


I Will Be Your Knight

by princessamaterasu



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Acceptance, Beach House, Cashier, College, Construction, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Fate & Destiny, Friendship, Hawaii, Holidays, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Marriage Proposal, Reader-Insert, Romance, Siblings, Sisters, Summer Vacation, Sunflowers, Weddings, chef
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-08
Updated: 2013-08-08
Packaged: 2017-12-22 19:50:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 56,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/917373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessamaterasu/pseuds/princessamaterasu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He wouldn't call himself a hero. No, that's America's thing. But what does that make him then? A Knight maybe. For you he'll be a Knight. He'll be whatever it takes. Russia x Reader</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Hetalia :(

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

You place a ribbon in your book as a bookmark,and then slowly close your book. You get up and stretch your stiff body. You've been sitting on the couch for some time now reading your book, and it felt good to loosen up. Placing the book down on a small table next to the couch, you walk into the kitchen to make lunch. Luckily you didn't have any classes today, and work wasn't for a few hours. You grab a box of mac n cheese and a pot to boil some water in. A typical meal for a college student who makes only a couple hundred bucks a week.

In a few minutes the water is boiling and you pour the elbow macaroni noodles out of their box. Suddenly your cell phone rings. Knowing it was important, since hardly anyone calls you, ever, you picked it up quickly.

"Hello," you answered.

"Hello (y/n), it's Germany. I was hoping you could come into work an hour early."

You held back a sigh. You don't mind work, but being asked to come in for extra hours doesn't exactly fill you with joy either. But you need the money so this isn't too bad. It's only an hour after all.

"Sure Ludwig. Shouldn't be a problem."

"Great. But (y/n) how many times do I have to tell you to call me Germany. It's more professional."

You rolled your eyes at this. Germany is usually pretty strict, but he can also be pretty relaxed about this kind of stuff. He says it's a formality since he's your boss, but you're friends with his brother, so it's not easy to be so formal with him.

"Whatever you say boss. See you in a few." And with that you hung up.

A quick glance at the stove while you put your phone back in your pocket revealed a pot about to boil over. You quickly pull the pot off the stove and mix its contents. Luckily the noodles haven't stuck to the bottom so your lunch isn't ruined.

After finishing lunch you look over at the clock and see that it's almost 2:00. You would've started your shift at 4:00 but now you have to go in at 3:00. Since it takes 10 minutes to walk to the grocery store where you work, you still have roughly half an hour before you need to get ready. This gives you time to clean up your mess from lunch and read your book. It's the latest book in a series you've been hooked on recently, and you've had your name on the waiting list for months at the library. Finally, it was your turn to read it, but you only had two weeks since it's a brand new book, and, undoubtedly, there are a ton of people waiting to read it after you.

The half hour passes by quickly, and you hurry to get your work outfit on. You're required to wear a white polo shirt and black apron, provided to you by the store, along with some black slacks of your choosing. You fasten your name tag to the upper left side of your apron. It reads (y/n) in neat black lettering. Then you walk out the door after putting on a coat and grabbing your purse. It gets pretty chilly already in October, especially if you're outside for a while. After locking your door, you put in your earbuds and head down the street in the direction of the store while walking to the beat of your music.

You arrive at work with a few minutes to spare, which gives you just enough time to put your purse in a small locker. You don't own anything super expensive except your iPod, since your phone is one that came free with the plan, and you don't carry a ton of cash, but it makes you feel better knowing its all locked up. By the time you reach the clock it's 3:00, so you punch in and head toward the cash registers. Being a cashier isn't the worst job. It beats being a bagger, especially in this weather. But you can't think too poorly about being a bagger since you're pretty tight with two of them here.

As you open lane 4 a tall guy with sandy blonde hair, glasses, and a distinct cow lick walks to the end of your belt to bag for you. You smile up at your friend who responds rather energetically.

"Yo, (y/n)! How's it hanging?!"

"I'm doing fine Alfred," you say with a laugh, "How're you doing yourself?"

"Heh heh, just fine thanks! Weather ain't that pretty, but that's what warm hamburgers are for!"

You just smile as he mentions his absolute favorite food of all time. Honestly, you wouldn't be surprised if that's all he ate. He's pretty well known at all the the McDonald's in this area. Your train of thought is cut short as someone enters your line. You go through your usual routine of greeting the customer and asking if they found everything okay. Then Alfred chimes in and asks if they want paper or plastic. You've done this a thousand times so it's pretty much a habit now.

After a while things start to pick up and you don't get to talk to Alfred, who is switching between lanes since there are less baggers than cashiers. The shortage is usually caused by someone being outside to get carts. Sure enough, the bagger bagging for you at the moment gets asked to go outside and send in whoever is out there. The person sent back in quickly puts his coat in the closet nearby and skips over to bag for you.

"Hello (y/n)!" greets the smiling bagger, "when did you get here?"

"Not too long ago," you answer, "I'm glad you're here Feli."

Italy beams at the use of his nickname with that dopey grin he always wears. Both he and Alfred have different names that are on their name tags, but, since you're a good friend to them both, they let you call them by their nicknames. Germany's the same way, but he doesn't like being called Ludwig.

Several hours go by and pretty soon things have slowed down enough that you can go on break. You wave to your two bagger friends as you walk towards the break room, and your stuff. You grab some cash out of your locker and head out into the store to buy dinner. It's a little later than you usually eat, so your stomach is growling like an animal. You quickly head over to the deli to see what they have left. The hot buffet catches your eye, and you silently thank the heavens that there's still some food left.

As you walk over to take a closer look you feel a hand gently brush your arm. You turn around to find a tall man looking at you with a lost look in his eyes. What catches your attention most is not his height, how fair his blonde hair is, or his trench coat and scarf. It is the eyes themselves that capture your gaze. They're a mysterious shade of purple. Now, you had seen interesting colors of eyes before. Your best friend is an albino and has red eyes, and his brother, who also happens to be your boss, has electric blue eyes. It isn't the color per se, but the depth of the eyes, that attract you the most

"-tarts are?"

"What? I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," you said as you mentally facepalm. You must have gotten too distracted to realize the man had started talking.

"Would you happen to know where the poptarts are? I've been looking for a while and can't seem to find them."

"Yes I do. I'll show you to where they are," you reply in business mode. But then in a teasing way you add, "can't be having much luck looking for poptarts in the deli, huh?"

He chuckles slightly. "I haven't been here that long so I'm still getting used to things. It's a lot different here than in the motherland, da?"

You quirk an eyebrow at that. "The motherland?"

"Da. I'm from Russia," he answers. "I've come here to study abroad, and possibly live here when I've completed my schooling."

This surprises you, yet makes sense at the same time because no one who's lived here their whole lives would be looking in the deli for poptarts. You are about to ask him where he's going to college when you reach the poptarts.

"Ah, so here is where you are hidden! Thank you very much (y/n)." He says gratefully.

At the sound of your name you look up, and forget what you're thinking about when you look into his purple eyes. The intensity of his gaze is enough to cloud your thoughts.

"Uh...you're welcome?" you say confused. It came out more like a question than anything.

"Well I should be on my way now. до свидания (goodbye)."

You watch as he turns and walks away, still in a bit of a daze. Why did his eyes have such an effect on you? He wasn't even trying to be alluring like a certain Frenchman you know, but you felt drawn in inexplicably.

"W-wait!" you call, "How do you know my name?"

He turns and smiles. "Легко (simple)," he replies looking quite amused. "Your name tag." And with that he continues walking and disappears from your sight.

You look down at the item mentioned and blush. What an obvious answer. It wasn't like you to forget things like that. You're the one who usually had to remind Feliciano to put his name tag on, or at least put it on straight. How could you have forgotten something so blatantly obvious? It was those eyes. It seems silly to blame something so innocent like someone's gaze, but his was so completely enthralling, the emotions expressed so raw, that you probably could've looked at them for hours and still not see every detail hidden in them. Much like those paintings at the art museum Feli always dragged you to look at. It's impossible to look at one of them and see every brushstroke and every shade of color used to create them, just like it would be impossible to stare into that man's intense gaze and decipher every layer of feeling in them.

You shake your head and walk back to the deli thinking about that mysterious man and his eyes. That's when you realize you never got his name. It annoys you to know that some cute guy knows your name, but you don't even know his. Wait, did you just think cute? Woah there, you just met the guy, you can't be attracted to him yet, can you? You hardly know anything about him. He's a total stranger. No, there's no way you like him like that. You're just intrigued, that's all. There's no way anything would ever work out between you two, ever.

By the time you got back to the deli you had convinced yourself he was just some guy that needed help finding something in the store. That's all, and that's all it'll ever be. That was also your last though before realizing you had gone 15 minutes over your break.

"Crap!" you exclaimed before heading back to the front, without a bite to eat. Almost all thoughts of the man out of your mind. Almost.

"What are the chances we'll ever meet again?" you mumble to yourself as you punch back in. "None," you say in answer to your own question just as you round the corner and bump into Germany.

But boy, are you wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"Oof!" is all you manage to get out as you walk right into Ludwig.

"(y/n)! Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry about that Ludwig," you answer in embarrassment.

"Well, that's good, but it's Germany remember. Ger-ma-ny," he says enunciating each syllable.

"Er, right. Sorry boss. I'll get back to work now."

No matter how many times he reminds you, you would never remember. It's hard when you hang out with his brother so much. Gil calls him Ludwig all the time. Sometimes he even calls him Luddy, or West, but you'd never call the German that to his face. Getting fired over something that dumb is not high on your list of things to do.

Without a backwards glance, you walk back over to the registers and reopen register 4. It's gotten fairly slow in the store since it's so late. The clock on the register reads 8:04, exactly 20 minutes after when your break was supposed to end. Germany didn't seem to know you had been gone too long, but he would eventually. You sigh thinking about the talking to you'd get later. You wouldn't get fired, but Ludwig would make sure you never do something like that again.

Keeping track of when people punch in or out, and scheduling, probably takes up the most of his time and effort. It's also probably why he's so stiff all the time. If you had to spend most of your time trying to come up with a schedule that has enough people at the store to function at all the right times, you'd probably be on edge all the time too. Ludwig has his hands full because a lot of the employees here are college students, so their availability varies depending on when their classes are. He's actually pretty good about making sure you're not scheduled during a lecture. Sometimes you have to come in almost immediately after one, but you never have to miss one. Ludwig's not a bad guy really, if you think about it. He just acts like he's got a stick up his butt sometimes.

"Hey, (y/n), where have you been? Didn't your break end a long time ago?"

Speaking of having a stick up your butt.

You turn around and face the person who just addressed you. "Sorry Iggy," you say using his second nickname just to annoy him. "I was helping a customer, if you must know. And I didn't even get to eat dinner, so gimme a break."

One of Arthur's large eyebrows twitches, and then he sighs. "Alright, I guess I'll let you off this time, but now my break's later than it would've been. You owe me (y/n)," he calls over his shoulder as he walks to the break room.

You smirk gently as you watch his retreating figure. Good old England. You wouldn't classify your relationship as being frenemies, but he wasn't a good of a friend as his younger brother Alfred. Mostly you and Arthur bicker and tease each other, but in the end you two always laugh it off. You attributed that to Arthur's tsundere-ness. He cares, it's just not as apparent. It must be a trait he picked up from being a middle child. You shake your head thinking about his older brother Francis. Growing up must have had its regular traumas.

The rest of your shift goes by fine, and you make it home around 10:00. You change into pajamas, brush your teeth, and plop into bed. You have a few classes tomorrow, so you have to actually get some sleep tonight instead of staying up on the internet, or reading your book, like you have a bad habit of usually doing.

The next morning you walk out of one of the lecture halls with your best friend Gilbert. You had just been assigned an essay in your biochemistry class, and you aren't happy about it.

"Gah, Gilbert! This sucks! A ten page essay on the properties of carbon and why it's necessary for life. Why couldn't the professor just given us a test on this?"

He rolls his eyes at your whining. "You know what you need?" asks Gilbert with a smirk.

"A degree in chemistry so I don't have to take this stupid class?" you ask sarcastically.

"No, you need to unwind (y/n)! I'm having an awesome party tonight, and pretty much everyone is invited. See? I've been putting up posters. Aren't they awesome?" He points to one on a light pole as we walk past it.

The poster in question is brightly colored and very obvious compared to the drab pole it has been taped to. "Awesome Party of Awesomeness" it read in big letters and "hosted by The Awesome Prussia" was right under it. You roll your eyes. How typical of Gilbert. The albino is your best friend, but sometimes you wonder how you put up with his shenanigans.

He is the complete opposite of his younger brother. That's right, Ludwig is younger, even though he's the manager of the store you work at. That makes Gilbert a lot older than you, but he's in college just like you. You've asked him about it once since it seemed a bit odd that Gil is the older one, yet not done with college. He explained that he decided to join the military in his homeland, so right after high school he moved to Germany and enlisted. He spend quite a few years serving, and wore the iron cross around his neck he earned proudly. When his duty was over he decided schooling was his best option, since the military pays for it, and he moved back to the States to live with his brother and go to school. While he was gone, Ludwig finished college and got a management position in the company that owns the chain of grocery stores where you work.

Gilbert had been going on about how awesome his party was going to be the whole time you were thinking about him and his brother. You sigh and then smile at him. There's no way you're getting out of going. Not that you don't want to go. You just don't have a choice in the matter anymore. Luckily it's Friday, so you have no classes in the morning.

"Okay, okay Gil. No need to convince me to go. You know I'll go to any party you throw."

"Awesome!" he shouts. "I gotta get home and start setting up for it. I'll see you there (y/n)!" He runs off while waving back at you.

You smile and head for home. You have a while yet before the party, and you figure it's in your best interest to get your essay started. You unlock the door to your house and mentally prepare to get some work done. That's right, you're a college student, but you have a house. You don't really own it. You're renting from an elderly couple that had to move to a retirement home, but didn't want to sell the house. You hardly pay anything for rent, and it's bigger than a dorm or an apartment, so it actually worked out quite nicely. The couple also has wi-fi in the house since all they used to do was watch shows on Hulu or Netflix, and so you're pretty comfortable living there. The place has two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a small kitchen and dining room, a living room, and an assortment of closets. The bedrooms and one of the bathrooms are upstairs. Since you don't need two bedrooms, the smaller of the two is a spare.

You plop down on your bed with your laptop and get started on your essay. After a while it's getting close to when you should leave for Gilbert's. They don't live too far away, so you figure you'd just walk. Gilbert never said anything about how formal it would be, but you know it won't be fancy. Plus walking in heels is never a good idea, so you opt for some more causal white flats. You pick out a nice pair of jeans that haven't been worn yet and a cute top. It's tight at the top by your chest then flares out as it goes lower. It has cap sleeves and some red embroidery that stands out from the white of the shirt itself. It's also not too low cut, that's not the kind of attention you want.

After grabbing your coat and purse, you're out the door into the chilly evening. You easily make your way to Gilbert and Ludwig's house, and with all the loud music coming from it, there's no way you could have missed it. Walking in, you throw your coat and purse with everyone else's in a closet right by the front door. Then someone grabs your hand.

"(y/n)! I was waiting for you, ve~!"

You turn to face Italy with a big smile. Of course, he couldn't resist coming to a party. If he's here, Alfred would be too. Both of them love having a good time. Sure enough America was over by the food in the kitchen stuffing his face with handful after handful of curly fries.

"How's the party so far Feli?" you ask over the loud music.

"Fantastico!" he exclaims. "Prussia even made pasta! He made everything! And the girls here are so cute." He winks at a passing girl after the last part.

You roll your eyes and chuckle. That's Feliciano for you. You leave him flirting with some girls and walk over to the food. Feli wasn't kidding, Gilbert did make everything! Unsure what to start with, you look over everything. Then something catches your eye. A plate of homemade scones. It looks oddly out of place with everything, probably because a certain English gentleman brought it. You make sure to avoid the scones and grab some bacon wrapped sausages and chips instead. No offense to Arthur, but his cooking could sure use some work. No wonder Alfred is always eating out.

"(y/n)!" someone shouts out. "You made it! Wunderbar (wonderful)!"

Turning, you face Gilbert and his little gang. They call themselves the Bad Touch Trio. You're not sure where the name came from, but you roll with it. You smirk at Alfred and Arthur's older brother, and wave at Antonio.

"Hola (y/n)," Toni greets with a wink.

"You look magnifique, dear," gushes Francis.

"Hey guys. Thanks," you answer with a slight blush. These guys are total womanizers, but you couldn't help feeling flattered.

"Feel free to walk around and enjoy yourself," Gilbert says. "If you need anything just ask the awesome me, kesesesese!" he says with a laugh as the BTT walk away.

You then spend the next few hours dancing with Feli and having a curly fry eating contest with Alfred. The whole while Arthur sitting like a grump grumbling about how he got dragged here against his will. After all the excitement you decide to go outside for some fresh air. The weather is nice and clear with a slight breeze, which also means it's nippy. You start to get slightly chilly when you feel a presence behind you.

Turning around you don't recognize who it is at first. Then it hits you.

"Hey!" you say pointing, "You're the same guy from the store!" And indeed it was.

"привет (hello) (y/n)." he says with a small smile on his innocent features. "What a surprise meeting you here, da?"

"Uh, yeah, I'll say," you respond. Dang it, your mind is wandering off again because of those eyes. Involuntarily, you shiver.

"Oh, you must be chilly standing outside," he comments. He quickly unwraps his scarf and wraps it around you. You notice he's still wearing a trench coat. "My сестра (sister) always says you should wear a scarf so you don't catch a cold."

"Oh, thank you," you say looking at the scarf. It's not fancy, but it's long and very warm. "What about you? Won't you be cold?"

"нет (nope)! I come from Russia, remember? I am very used to this kind of weather."

You blush. How could you have forgotten that? Oh, that's right. His very presence seems to have a hypnotizing effect on you. Was it that innocent face, or the penetrating eyes? Maybe it was his height, or that thick accent. It could've been the voice that came with the accent. Sweet, but with a darker, deeper undertone.

"-room is?"

"What?" you ask coming out of your haze. Man, you gotta stop tuning out when he's talking to you.

He smiles and says, "Do you know where the bathroom is?"

"Oh, um, yes. It's up the stairs and on your left," you answer quickly. You've been to Gil's house plenty of times, so you know where practically everything is.

"спасибо (thank you)," he says turning. "I'll see you later, da?" And with that he disappears in the crowd.

"Yeah," you answer a bit too late. You get the feeling that when he said he'd see you later, it wasn't a question. It was a promise. You shiver again and realize you're still wearing his scarf.

"Wait!" you yell as you run back into the house, but he's nowhere to be seen. You look around the room a bit, and then you realize you still hadn't gotten his name. He sure was a mystery alright.

"Are you okay (y/n)?" Arthur asks approaching you with a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah I'm fine. Have you seen a tall guy in a trench coat anywhere around here?"

"Let me think," the Englishman says while knitting his large brows together. "I saw him earlier, and it seemed to me that he was looking at you. I didn't think much of it then. Why? Are you looking for him?"

"He left without this," you say indicating the scarf. "I was going to give it back and ask for his name."

"I see," Arthur replied. Then his face becomes more serious as he says, "If I were you I wouldn't go looking for him. He seems a bit off to me. He has a weird aura."

You roll your eyes. Arthur is always talking about auras and magic and fairies and the like. It's all a bunch of phooey to you.

"Thanks for the advice Iggy," you reply, not intent on following said advice at all.

"Don't call me that!" he growls indignantly, and then adds in a softer tone, "But you're welcome. I'll see you at work some time." And with that he walks out the door dragging a whining America with him.

You stay to help Gilbert and Ludwig clean up after the party. The other two members of the BTT are already passed out on the floor. As you stand up after picking up disposed cups off the floor, you turn and bump into Ludwig.

"Ah! Sorry Lud- I mean, Germany," you say remembering how annoyed the German could get when you call him by his nickname.

Germany smiles softly and says, "You don't have to call me Germany here. Only at work because I'm your boss. Here you are my guest."

"Oh, okay Ludwig," you say with a big smile. Maybe Ludwig doesn't have as big a stick up his butt as you thought.

When everything was finally picked up and in order, you grab your stuff and walk out the door.

"Bye Gilbert! Bye Ludwig! See you later," you call back into the house.

"Guten Nacht (good night)!" the two answer back in unison.

You head off toward your house with the scarf wrapped tightly around you, and thoughts of its owner occupying your mind.


	3. Chapter 3

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

The weekend went by without incident. You went to work, but you never saw the tall, fair haired man. You still have his scarf though. You took it to work with you on Saturday in case he came in again, but he didn't. Sunday you didn't work, and decided to work on your essay some more. This time you decided to work in the library.

Now it's Monday and you exit the history department building with one of the few female friends have. For whatever reason you tend to get along with guys better, but that doesn't mean you don't have girl friends. In fact, Lili is one of the few people you trust with some of your deepest secrets. She has your absolute trust. And who wouldn't trust her sweet, innocent face? Of course that means she knows all about your mystery man. And after the warning Arthur had given you, you decided it would be better to not mention it to a lot of people.

"Would you like to come over later? Vash will be home and we can all have tea," Lili asks.

"Oh, I'd love to," you respond, "but I gotta finish an essay and take a book back to the library." You had finally finished that book, and so now you need something else to read. Plus Liechtenstein's older brother, Switzerland, scared you a bit with his antique gun collection he kept cleaned, and probably loaded.

"Oh...ah, that's too bad," she says a little crestfallen.

"Maybe later this week," you say quickly, "Sometime I don't work."

Lili immediately cheered up. "T-that would be wunderbar (wonderful)."

"Great," you say with a smile. "I'll see you later. Text me!"

Then you turn in the direction of the library. The library is across campus, so you take the scenic walk past some trees and bushes that have changed color and are now losing their leaves. Right before you get to where you're going you see someone walk into the library that looks vaguely familiar. You squint trying to make out his figure better. All you can tell before he walks in is that he's very tall.

And wearing a very familiar trench coat.

With a gasp you run towards the building. By the time you reach it you're all out of breath. You take a moment to slow your breathing down before entering the building. You smile as you enter the familiar building. It's warm and inviting as always. You quickly drop your book off in the return bin, and then take a good look around the main floor. No sign of him anywhere.

After a thorough search of the ground floor, you climb the stairs near the entrance to check the second floor. You've spent a lot of time on the second floor doing research since all of the nonfiction books are found on this floor, although you prefer reading fiction for fun. You head towards the science section hoping to find a book on biochemistry you can reference for your essay. You keep your eyes peeled for the tall man as well.

There was no sign of him as you reach the bookshelf you are looking for. You pick a couple promising books after skimming a few of them, and then head for a table in the corner. You like it because it's quieter than other areas of the library, and hardly anyone visits it. That's because it's by the plant books. Only students taking botany look at those books, or perhaps a very serious gardener.

You set up your laptop and sit down, ready for some serious work. Your hands fly across the keys as you transfer your thoughts onto the screen. You pause occasionally to reference a book, or look up a fact on some creditable websites. You completely forget about looking for your mystery man as you become increasingly absorbed in finishing your essay. You only have a little left, and some proof reading, before you can send it to some friends and family to be double checked.

In the middle of your editing you hear someone walk into your corner. It's unusual, but it's happened before, so you don't think much of it. Whoever it is moves to a different part of the shelf, and you hear the distinct sound of heavy boots and quite a bit of fabric rustling as the person moves. Now that's unusual. You look up from your essay to see who on earth can be making that kind of sound and your jaw drops.

"YOU!" you shout slack-jawed. You've been looking everywhere for him, and there he is. Your mystery man is standing there holding a book on sunflowers.

"Oh, hello there (y/n). I didn't see you there," he says with a smile.

"I-I thought I saw you come in here! I looked around for you, but...uh, I...uh, couldn't find you, and I've been tying to find you all weekend, and, well...uh...yeah," you say as you end your rambling. You blush slightly as you realize you admitted to looking for him. Him, some guy you've only met a few times and didn't even know the name of.

He smiles at your silliness and gives a slight laugh. It sounds almost like 'kolkolkol', but you're not quite sure.

"I'm flattered to know you're looking for me," he replies with a small grin. "And to what do I owe that honor?"

Shaking yourself out of a stupor you answer. "You left the party Friday without your scarf. I still have it."

"Ah, yes that is true, da?"

"I don't have it with me now, but we can go to my house and I'll get it for you!" you blurt out without thinking.

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that," he says sheepishly.

"N-no, it's fine. It's the least I can do for you after you let me wear it." You blush some more when you realize you just invited him to your house. That was unexpected.

"Well if you insist I cannot refuse. Thank you very much. That scarf is very important to me. It was a gift from my sister."

"You're welcome," you say as you start to pack up. You wonder how he could've given such an important thing to a stranger, and then not ask for it back. He must be one sweet guy.

Once you had gathered everything, the two of you head to the librarian behind the counter to check out your books. When that's taken care of, you walk out of the library and into the chilly afternoon. Out of the corner of your eye you see the tall, fair haired man turn and start walking in the opposite direction of your house. Without thinking, you reach out and grab his hand.

"My house is the other way," you say quickly then blush. You drop his hand just as quickly.

He chuckles and says, "How silly of me. I don't even know where I'm going. Lead the way (y/n)."

You turn and motion for him to follow you. As you start walking you notice the book he's holding. It's a book on sunflowers. Not a book on sunflowers themselves, but how to grow them. That sparks your interest.

"Are you going to grow sunflowers?"

"What?" he asks looking confused until you point to his book. "Oh, da, I am. подсолнухи (sunflowers) are my favorite. They remind me of the warmth of the sun they are named after. Warmth is not something we have a lot of in Russia."

As he said the last sentence, his face clouds over with emotion. You can't quite place it. It seems sad, but also something else. Nostalgia perhaps. But as soon as the thoughts cross your mind, the expression disappears and is replaced with a small, pleasant smile.

"What about you?" he asks. "What are your books for?"

"I have an essay for one of my classes, and I need some reference material. Also my professor isn't big on the internet. Says books are more reliable, so if I want a decent grade most of my references have to be books. Having a test would be so much simpler," you huff.

He chuckles and says, "You're cute when you're flustered."

You blush like crazy, but before you can say anything you realize you've arrived at your house. "We're, um...here," you mumble.

You quickly unlock the door and take off your coat. You turn and ask the man if he would like to sit down.

"Oh no, I'm alright. I won't be staying long."

You feel a pang of disappointment at his words. You hastily push that thought from your mind. Why should it matter if he stayed or not? It's not like he's an important person in your life, right?

"Uh, then can I get you anything to drink or, uh...something?" you ask as you put your coat away and grab your bag.

"That's quite alright. But you are very kind to ask."

"I'll be just a sec then," you call over your shoulder as you climb up the stairs to your room.

When you enter your room, your eyes land on the scarf draped carefully over the chair by your desk. You gently pick it up and hold it to your face. It's soft and has a musky, masculine scent. You'd miss the scarf. You've grown a bit attached to it. You hadn't worn it since the night of the party because it seemed a little weird to wear someone else's scarf longer than necessary, but you had grown used to its presence.

You walk back downstairs with the scarf securely in your hands. Only the man with the purple eyes is gone. Questions quickly pop into your mind. Did he just leave? Does he not care about his scarf as much as he says he does? Is he a serial killer and is waiting around the corner to make you his next victim?

You jump and yelp loudly as a hand comes in contact with your shoulder.

"Ahhhhh! Don't sneak up on me like that!" you admonish when you realize the tall man is not about to kill you. "That scared the crap out of me."

Sadness clouds his eyes when you mention being scared. "I'm sorry (y/n). I didn't mean to. мне очень жаль (I'm so sorry)."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it," you say as you catch your breath. Then you laugh.

"What is so funny?" he asks, now very confused.

"Hahaha, I thought you were a serial killer. Hahaha. Pretty silly, huh?"

He smirks upon hearing that, but the sadness does not quite left his eyes, and you notice.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed something like that," you say suddenly serious. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

He brightens a little at hearing that. "Oh, no it wasn't that. People often think I'm a scary person and avoid me," he says, and the sadness returns again.

This reminds you of what Arthur had said at the party. You shake your head, and with a reassuring smile, tell the man as you hand him his scarf, "I don't think you're scary. You just startled me, that's all."

He looks up quickly from the scarf he just accepted and smiles. "Da? You mean it?"

"Yes of course. You're a very sweet person. How could anyone think you're scary?" You blush slightly as you say it.

"Thank you. You are a very kind person." He wraps his scarf around himself and then embraces you in a tight hug. It was completely unexpected, and you don't know what to do at first, but you relax and hug him back.

"I must be going now. I have a lecture on American culture this afternoon. It was very nice seeing you again (y/n)," he says as you break apart. You notice how natural he looks with the scarf on, like it's a part of his very being.

"O-oh, okay. I have a class this afternoon too." you stutter a bit when you force your mind to form a coherent thought. "A culinary skills class. My favorite," you say with a big smile, your previous slip up forgotten. It really is your favorite class. Your dream is to become a well known chef and work in a high class restaurant.

"In that case you must cook for me sometime. I'd love to taste something you make."

You blush and reply bashfully, "Well, that means I'd have to see you again."

"And perhaps you will," the mysterious man responds with a smile. "До свидания (goodbye) (y/n)." He turns towards the door, but the use of your name reminds you of something.

"Wait!" you call, "I don't know your name."

He turns back to you and speaks the words you've been waiting to hear for the last few days. "Many people call me Russia, but you may call me Ivan, if you wish."

"Ivan," you breathe as he steps out into the chilly air.


	4. Chapter 4

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It's been a few days since Ivan walked out your door that crisp Monday afternoon. You haven't seen him since. You are currently sitting at a small, round table at Lili's house with a teacup in your hands. You kept your promise when you told her you'd come over. She had greeted you warmly when she opened the door, and informed you that Switzerland would not be joining you. Personally, you don't mind because, honestly, the dainty girl's older brother makes you uneasy. He watches you no matter what you're doing, like he thinks you're going to steal something, or break it.

"M-more sugar?" Lili's quiet voice asks.

"Yes, please. And some milk, if you don't mind," you say as you set your cup down and start nibbling on a cookie. Lili made sure there's plenty of delicious snacks for the both of you to munch on as you drink your tea.

You stir a few sugar cubes and a dash of milk into your tea and take a tentative sip. You wouldn't call yourself a girly girl who loves having tea parties, but there's something relaxing about sipping some warm tea on a chilly day. You sigh contently. The only thing that would make this better is if Ivan were here. Ivan. You sigh again thinking about the purple eyed man.

"(y/n), what's on your mind?"

"Huh?" you say, suddenly pulled out of your daydream. "Oh, well...um..." you blush, "Ivan," you whisper slightly embarrassed and you quickly start sipping tea.

"Of course," Lili replies with a knowing look and a smile. You had already filled her in on the details of your last encounter. "You like him, don't you?"

You almost spit out the tea you're drinking all over the table. "W-what? Why would you-? H-how? What?"

Lili lets out a tinkling laugh. "Don't try to hide it (y/n). You can't stop thinking about him, and you've hardly talked about much else either."

You blush when you realize she's telling the truth. "Oh, I'm sorry."

She waves your apology off. "No need to apologize. It's only natural after all." She smiles sweetly and holds up a plate. "Another cookie?"

You sheepishly take one and start nibbling on the edge. Lili is right. You do like Ivan. Probably since the moment you met him. You always had a thing for tall guys, and you couldn't resist his eyes. His voice makes your heart beat a little faster, and his strong, masculine scent puts you at ease. Lili had hit the nail on the head. You had fallen head over heels for the mysterious Russian man.

"So what are you going to do about this?" Liechtenstein asks, interrupting your thoughts.

"I...I don't know," you say with a frown. "I don't know how to contact him."

"Well, he must live around here if you've run into him so often."

"Yes, he goes to our college," you say, brightening as you remember your conversation with him.

"Then there's nothing to worry about," Lili tells you as she takes a sip of her tea. "From what you said, it sounds like he'll find you."

It's true. He had hinted at seeing you again. So maybe all you have to do is wait. How mysterious. Some people might think that's a little creepy, but you're too infatuated with him to think poorly of him. Besides, he doesn't seem like a bad person, so in a way, you trust him.

Suddenly, the clock strikes 7:00. You finish the last of your tea and put your cup down. "I should probably be leaving soon," you inform Lili. "I still have some stuff I need to get done before work tomorrow."

"Oh yes, that's perfectly fine. Feel free to take some food with you. Brother won't be too happy to know I bought this much."

You usually wouldn't accept, but knowing how upset Switzerland can get over spent money, you decide to help Lili avoid being scolded. You and Liechtenstein put some of the treats into a bag, and then you place that bag into your purse.

"Thank you so much for having me over," you say as you give Lili a hug.

"Thanks for coming," she says in reply. "Feel free to come back anytime."

She sees you to the door, and you wave back to her as you walk out the door. It's dark out now, and you pull your jacket tighter around you. The frigid night air makes you wish you still had Ivan's scarf. You start to walk in the direction of your house. Lili's house is further away than Gilbert and Ludwig's house, so you put in your earbuds in preparation of a long walk.

Your walk is uneventful until you notice movement in the peripheral of you vision. You turn to see what it is, but it's already gone. You don't think much of it, but a little while later you see something again. This time it's closer. You start to feel a little nervous, so you pick up your pace and turn your music off. That's when you notice a shady looking person leaning on the lamppost at the corner. You lower your head and begin to walk past him.

"Hey there, babe," the man at the lamppost calls. He reaches out and grabs your arm. "Where do you think you're going," he growls in your ear.

"I'm going home, if you don't mind," you respond, jerking your arm out of his grasp.

"I don't think so," he croons. He picks up a baseball bat that is leaning against the light pole. You look at it cautiously. It's stained an ominous color, and there are many crooked nails stuck in it. You look up at the awful weapon's owner. He looks vaguely familiar. He looks quite a bit like Alfred, except his hair is a strange reddish color and it seems like his teeth have been sharpened into points. The dim light must be playing tricks on your eyes.

You back away from the man and his horrible looking bat. As you continue to back up, you leave the small pool of light created by the lamp. He walks to the edge of the light and watches you with an evil smirk. You continue to back up slowly, not daring to look away from the Alfred lookalike. Then you bump into something.

"Where are you going, love?" snarls a voice right behind you. The voice's British accent sends shivers down your spine.

You turn to see a man that looks like Arthur. Only this man has a slight pink tint to his hair, and he's carrying several knives. You flinch away from him. Your mind is racing. He must've been the shadow you kept seeing as you walked. Both men slowly close in on you.

Your mind flashes back to bullies in high school. You never did anything to set yourself up as a target, but they didn't care. It get to the point that it was hard to keep track of who was picking on you. Sometimes it was a group of girls pulling at your hair and clothes while calling you awful names. Sometimes it was several boys threatening to do things to you just because they could. You've been pushed, hit, teased, and told how worthless you are. At first you believed them, but soon you realized the reason they did this was because they were insecure themselves. After that you didn't have as much trouble with bullying, but the memories of the abuse still haunt you.

Those memories come flooding back, and your eyes threaten to start leaking from the pain they bring and the hopelessness of your current situation. You back into a wall that surrounds someone's yard. Everyone has walls around their yards in this neighborhood because they have the money for it. Rich people like their privacy.

"I hope you're ready for some fun, love," the not-Arthur says as he licks one of his blades. There's a sick bloodlust in his eyes.

"Be a good little girl and come with us, okay?" coos the not-Alfred as he steps towards you.

You desperately press yourself against the wall hoping it would let you through. The tears are freely rolling down your face now as the reality of the situation sinks in. There's no hope for you. Maybe one day they would find your body in some dumpster. Death would be a comfort if they do to you what you imagine they will do. You can't bear to see what comes next, and you close your eyes. If only you could've seen Ivan one more time. Maybe you would've mustered the courage to tell him how you feel.

"Ivan...I'm sorry," you whisper ever so softly. Sorry that he would never see you again. Sorry that you wouldn't be able to keep your promise and cook for him.

"Sorry for what?" a familiar voice asks you.

Your eyes fly open and all you can say is, "Ivan."


	5. Chapter 5

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"Ivan?" you say again unsure. This time it came out more like a question.

"Da?" Ivan replies with a tight smile on his face. It's hard to see him in the darkness, so you weren't sure at first if it's him, but his answer reassures you that it is, in fact, the Russian. But there's something a little off about him.

He's standing there holding a long metal pipe, which has a faucet attached at one end. The faucet pipe vaguely resembles a cane, and the whole scene would've been somewhat comical, if it isn't for one thing. It's too dark to tell for sure, but you think you see blood on the faucet end of the pipe. If that is really true, that's also blood dripped on the concrete sidewalk. Ivan doesn't look hurt, and you know you're not hurt, so it must be from those two goons, but where had they gone?

You try not to focus on what could be blood when you notice the strange aura surrounding the tall Russian. No, you haven't suddenly converted to whatever mumbo-jumbo Arthur believes in. You can quite literally see the dark, purple energy radiating off of him. You've never seen him, or anyone, like this before.

Your common sense tells you that you should be scared, but your mind is too foggy to listen to reason. Right now Ivan is the only thing keeping you from going completely off your rocker. He's the only real, tangible person in your mind as it shifts between images of bullies, the Alfred and Arthur lookalikes, and a myriad of other things.

Slowly, you slide down the wall and onto the ground with tears still falling. Your vision has gone a little blurry, and you don't bother to try to fix it. Ivan takes a step towards you, and you flinch slightly, the memory of bullies and the two men still fresh in your mind. This causes Ivan to take several steps back. It's not him you're scared of, right?

At this point, you're close to hysteria. You pull yourself into a ball and start sobbing loudly. That's when your hysteria finally takes over and all you can do is scream. You thought it was over! You thought after high school, if you moved far enough away, you could escape the torment your peers had put you through. It's the only reason you moved so far away from your parents. You would've rather gone to a college near your hometown, so you could visit them often, because you're their only child after all. But, you couldn't stand the idea of being near to the people who made most of your four years of high school a kind of nightmare. The kind where you know something awful is going to happen, it's just a matter of when.

The pain comes back all too fast. Not to mention your near death experience, that just adds to the torment. You stop screaming, but you continue to sob as you hold your head between your hands, your hands tangled in your now messy hair. Tears drip off your face and onto your lap. Some find their way to the ground. Your mind has gone so blank that you don't notice a gentle hand placed on your back. It begins to rub soothing circles onto your back, and with each circle you feel your panic start to fade.

You look up and to your left. Ivan is crouched next to you and is the source of your comfort. His faucet pipe has mysteriously disappeared along with his previous mysterious aura.

"Ivan," you whisper. Your mind is slowly starting to clear and you can form coherent thoughts now.

"Da," he breathes just as quietly. "It's me. You don't have to be scared anymore. I won't let anyone hurt you." All trace of his dark aura is gone, and now seems like bad dream that you can't remember clearly.

You feel a fresh wave of tears threaten to spill over at his words. He said he'll keep you safe. All through high school, that's all you ever wanted. Someone to stand up for you when the bullies showed up. You had friends in school, but they would quickly disappear when the bullies showed up. They didn't want to be the next target. Now Ivan says you don't have to worry or be scared. It's like a prayer being answered. You quickly lean over and hold onto Ivan tight. It startles him for a moment, but then he smiles and wraps an arm around you.

"You should probably be getting home," Ivan says quietly into you ear. The two of you have been sitting against the wall for some time now.

You hold him tighter in response.

He chuckles softly, then frees himself from your embrace. You look up at him in confusion. He saves you, but now he's just going to ditch you? He gives you a reassuring look and scoops you up into his arms. You gasp at the unexpected action, then blush. No one has ever held you like that, except maybe your father when you were small. The only thing stopping you from protesting is the fatigue you feel quickly descending on you. That, and you feel very safe in Ivan's strong arms.

Ivan begins to walk in the direction of your house. You wrap your arms around Ivan's neck and lay your head on his shoulder. His scarf flaps as he walks, and the part wrapped around his neck brushes your cheek occasionally. It's cold out tonight, but Ivan is very warm, so you nuzzle closer to him when the chilly wind blows. He looks down at you with a gentle smile.

"Thank you, Ivan," you whisper faintly. "I was...so scared." You tighten your hold around his neck. "H-how did you find me?" you ask after a few moments of silence.

Ivan looks down again and answers with a serious expression. "I was walking down the street when I saw you walking further up ahead. I was going to catch up to you, but that's when I noticed someone following you. I stayed back to see if he was up to something. I also didn't want him to see me in case you needed my help later. Then I caught sight of the other ублюдок (bastard) up ahead. That's when I knew there would be trouble." He pauses and looks away. "I ran as fast as I could, and then I let them have what was coming to them." His dark aura starts to become visible. "The looks on their faces when they saw me was priceless," he practically snarls.

"I-Ivan?" You look up at him with wide eyes. Where was this coming from all of a sudden?

At the sound of your voice, the purple aura disappears, and so does the maniacal smile that was beginning to form on his face. You notice that he's stopped walking. He looks down at you and smiles sweetly. It was a little eerie the way his mood seemed to shift back and forth.

"Sorry (y/n). I got carried away. What's important is that you're safe, da?" He continues walking.

You slowly nod your head. What was that all about? You're too tired to give it any real thought, so you relax again in Ivan's arms. The rest of the walk passes in silence as Ivan carries you to your house. When you get there, he sets you down so you can unlock your door. You do so on shaky legs, then proceed to open the door. As you walk into your house, you almost collapse from exhaustion, and the stress of your what you've been through. Ivan manages to grab you before you hit the floor. He pulls you close, and you feel his breath on the back of your neck as he talks.

"You need to go to bed, da?" he says more to himself than you. He picks you up again and carries you up the stairs. You listen to his heart beat as he walks up the stairs. It has a strong, steady rhythm. It's the heart of a very strong, very kind person you think to yourself.

Once at the top, he walks toward the only open door hoping it's your room. His guess is correct, and he carries you inside. You're barely conscious as he softly lays you on your bed. He moves your blankets and comforter out from under you, and then covers you with them. You look up at him with half closed eyes, and he smiles. He reaches out and brushes the hair away from your face. Then he leans down and places a gentle kiss on your forehead.

"You're safe now (y/n). хорошо спать (sleep well)." He turns to leave.

You have a silent panic attack when you realize he's about to go. You don't want him to leave. He makes you feel warm and safe. What if those guys show up? Several similar thoughts go through your mind. All you know is that Ivan cannot leave. Not yet. "Ivan," you manage to say through your sleepy haze. "Ivan...don't go."

He turns and looks at you quizzically, and then chuckles. It definitely sounds like 'kolkolkol' you think to yourself. Ivan walks back towards your bed.

"You don't want me to leave?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

You shake your head no.

"Then I will stay," he says matter of factly.

He takes a seat at the foot of your bed and turns to look at you with a soft smile. You reach out and take one of his gloved hands carefully in one of your own. The last thing you remember before falling asleep is the warmth of Ivan's hand in yours and Ivan saying something softly in Russian.

"хорошо спать, моя подсолнечника (sleep well, my sunflower)."


	6. Chapter 6

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You wake up feeling warm and relaxed. You stretch luxuriously in your soft bed. It has been a while since you've slept that well. You roll over to look at the clock, and it reads 8:27. You can't remember what time you fell asleep last night, so it's hard to tell him much sleep you had actually gotten.

Then you remember everything that happened last night.

You're not sure whether to feel embarrassed, scared, happy, or sad. Embarrassed at how much you had cried, scared that you've made yourself a target for another encounter, happy that you made it out alive and without a scratch, or sad because you don't remember Ivan leaving last night, but he's no longer in your room.

You gasp as you remember the violet eyed Russian. The first thing that comes to your mind is that kiss he gave you. You try to convince yourself that it was nothing more than a chaste kiss on your forehead, and that your parents had often done the same. Except your parents are your parents and not a devilishly handsome man that saved your life. And you may or may not be falling for him. Hard.

You get up out of your bed and realize you're still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, which are now slightly worse for wear. You grab some fresh clothes and head for the bathroom. You turn on the light in the bathroom. A quick look in the mirror causes you to flinch slightly. You have tear streaks all over your face, and the little bit of mascara you always put on has also streaked, and dried, to your face. It's a miracle none of it got onto your pillow.

You set your clothes on counter of your sink, and then turn on the shower. You've always changed in the bathroom after your shower. There's something about walking around in nothing but a towel that makes you very uncomfortable, so you never do it. You quickly strip down and step into the warm shower.

You make sure to take your time in the shower. After everything that's happened, you deserve it. When you're done, you step out into the steamy bathroom and put your clean clothes on. Then you run a brush through your slightly tangled hair and part it the way you usually do. It then takes a few minutes to blow dry your hair. You apply the small amount of makeup you usually have on, and then you're done.

You grab your dirty clothes and throw them in a hamper in your room. A loud growl from your stomach tells you it's time to get something to eat. As you walk down the stairs you hear a sound from the kitchen and you freeze. Your mind panics as you wonder what the sound could be. Then you hear someone exclaim in Russian. That can only mean one thing.

You make your way down the stairs as fast as you can without tripping, and run into the kitchen to see what the heck is going on. You're greeted by the sight of Ivan holding your toaster upside down, and shaking it, to get the toast out while a steady stream of frustrated sounding Russian comes out of his mouth. Suddenly, with a ding, the burning toast comes flying out, right onto the floor.

You can't help but burst into uncontrollable laughter. Ivan looks up at you and rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. You bend over double, still laughing, and your sides begin to ache.

"Ah hahahaha, Ivan, hahaha, what are you doing? Hahahahaha," is all you manage to get out before you're struck by another fit of giggles.

"(Y/n), I was, well...the toast got jammed, so I thought I would, um...shake it out," Ivan replies sheepishly. "My sister told me not to put forks into toasters," he adds.

You wipe away a stray tear that managed to squeeze out of your eyes. "Oh Ivan, that's the funniest thing I've ever seen." You look up and notice that, for once, the Russian isn't wearing his trench coat. He's wearing a dark sweater, jeans, and some heavy looking boots. He still has his scarf on though.

He smiles back, although still embarrassed, and says, "I'm glad I could amuse you."

You smile back at Ivan. Then a thought comes across your mind. "Ivan?" you say, your smile fading in confusion, "Why are you still here?"

At this, Ivan smiles widely, his previous embarrassment all but forgotten. "You asked me to stay, da? So I did," he says with a gleam in his purple eyes.

You think about what he said, and then hesitantly ask, "Where did you sleep then?" A small blush rises to your cheeks as you think of the different possibilities.

"On your couch," Ivan says, pointing.

You turn and look at the one and only couch in your small living room. Sure enough, you see a pillow propped against one of the arms, and the blanket that's usually draped over the back is now laying discarded on the couch. It's obviously been used. You also notice Ivan's trench coat laying on the couch as well. Its apparent that the couch is much too small for the tall man to have fit on it comfortably, and you guiltily think about how you had sprawled comfortably on your bed the night before. It's too bad Ivan didn't know about the guest room or he could've used the bed in there.

You turn back to Ivan, and see his big smiling face. You don't know what to say to him. You never imagined he would stay all night at your house just because you asked him too. You figured he would leave after you fell asleep. Quickly, you close the gap between the two of you, and pull him into a hug. You feel his arms gently wrap around your small frame as he returns your embrace.

"Thank you," you say quietly into his chest. You hope he understands just how grateful you are from those simple words.

Ivan lowers his head so his cheek rests on the top of your head. "Da, you're welcome." You feel his lips brush against your hair.

You take a moment to breathe in his scent a little while longer before pulling away. You look up into his innocent face. "So what are you doing in my kitchen?"

Ivan grins widely at your question. "Making you breakfast," he says with a hint of pride in his sweet, childlike voice.

You lean around him to look at your stove and see two plates with eggs and bacon already on them. You practically beam at the tall man. "Want some help with the toast?" you ask, excitement lacing your voice.

Ivan chuckles and nods, then the two of you get to work. You work the toaster while Ivan butters every piece of toast you manage to get out of the toaster. There are a few more toaster jams, but the two of you manage to pull the burning toast out with a pair of chopsticks you happen to have sitting around from the many times you've ordered Chinese takeout.

The two of you sit down to a pleasant breakfast. At first the two of you are so hungry all you can do is eat. Once your stomachs fill up, you slow down your pace and manage to hold a conversation as you eat. The topic of discussion consists of casual things like school and work. You find out that Ivan has been going to college as long as you, and wants to major in business management so he can someday run his own construction company. You also learn that he works construction in the summer, and does factory or warehouse work in the winter. He came to America to finish his schooling because there are several more opportunities for entrepreneurship here than in Russia.

You tell him about the town you grew up in, your parents, and your friends. He listens attentively as you describe the house that you used to live in with your parents, and the cute little dog the three of you adopted from a shelter when you were 10. He smiles when you tell him about the various activities between you and your friends. He laughs when you recall all the pranks you've pulled and the parties you've attended with Gil. He shakes his head in amusement when you describe the many trips to the mall with Feliciano and all the trouble he gets in when he tries women's clothes on. You could've spent hours talking to Ivan.

In fact, you already have.

"Are you doing anything later?" he asks as you get up to put the plates in the sink.

"Later..." you repeat, more to yourself than anything, and think about what you have going on. You don't have any classes since its Thursday, so you should be pretty open. That's when you remember. "I have to work today!" you shout. "What time is it?" You look at the clock on the stove to see it's 20 to 1:00. You work at 1:00, and it takes 10 minutes to walk to work. "I have to go!" you yell at Ivan.

He takes the plates from you and motions for you to go change. "Go. I'll take it from here, da?"

You take the stairs two at a time. In your room, you hurriedly change into your work outfit and grab your purse. Then you run down the stairs to see what Ivan is up to. He's finished washing the dishes, and is now drying his hands on a towel. You reach into your purse and pull out a slightly crumpled napkin. You quickly scribble something down on it and hand it to him.

"Call me!" you yell over your shoulder as you walk towards the door.

Then you hesitate and walk back towards Ivan who is still holding the napkin with your cell number written on it. When you reach him, you stand up on your tiptoes so you're closer to his height. It doesn't help much, but it's enough. You give him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Thanks for everything," you whisper as you blush like crazy. Then you turn and continue on your way to work.


	7. Chapter 7

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The first few hours of your shift go by without a hitch. It's busy, so you don't get much of a break to stop and think about your interaction with Ivan that morning, or much of anything else for that matter. It's so busy that you haven't even been able to say much to Alfred, except for a short greeting. He's working his tail off bagging for as many lanes as he can, but no matter how busy it is, he never fails to give each customer a huge grin.

Several times a customer has commented to him how busy it is, and they shake their heads in amazement that he can keep up. To this Alfred always replies, "Its because I'm the hero!" with his signature smile and thumbs up.

Feli isn't here today, though, because he asked off. He mentioned something about going to visit his brother, Romano, today. His brother goes to a different college in another city because, according to him, he can't stand his happy-go-lucky brother for long periods of time. Romano's decision to go to a college in a different city made Feli quite sad for a while, but now he uses it as an excuse to take off of work.

The two of them are twins, but they're nothing alike. You've met Romano a few times, and you can't say he's your favorite person in the world. Feliciano always goes on and on about him. It's Lovino this and Lovino that. Feli's the only one who can call Romano by his nickname and get away with it. Anyone else would get cussed out of the county.

Your thoughts are interrupted by Ludwig. "You can go on your break now (y/n)."

"Alright. Thanks Germany!" You've gotten better at remembering when to call him that and when to call him Ludwig.

He smiles at the use of his more formal name, and walks away. You smile as you walk towards the clock to punch out. Ludwig should smile more often in your opinion. You walk into the empty break room after you punch out. You open your locker and pull out your purse. Then you sit at a table and grab your phone. Since it's a cheap old thing, it's not a touchscreen, and you have to slide it to reveal its keyboard. You do so only to find you have a text.

It reads:

Hello there (y/n). When do you get out of work?

-Ivan

You smile and enter his number into your contacts. You debate whether or not to put hearts next to his name, and decide against it. You don't want to be one of those people. You quickly type out a reply and hit send. In a few moments your phone buzzes with Ivan's response.

He sent:

Alright. I'll see you then, da? ^J^

You giggle at the emoticon he sent. That face suits him very much. The way he uses punctuation and good grammar in a text is also very Ivan. You can barely contain your excitement thinking about Ivan picking you up. You're still lost in thought when you punch back in after your break. The store is much quieter now, and you allow yourself to daydream about Ivan. You don't notice Arthur talking to you until he starts to yell.

"Hey (y/n)! Listen when someone's talking to you, you git!" Arthur exclaims.

You give a start as you snap out of your daydream. "W-what?" you stammer out.

"I asked," Arthur explains in an exasperated tone,"what's on your mind tonight. You've got the look on your face that Matthew gets when someone brings home maple syrup."

A smile tugs on the corners of your lips when you imagine the scene England is describing. The youngest of the four brothers, Matthew, or Canada to most, has a strange love for maple syrup. Not the cheap stuff that's mostly corn syrup, but the real deal that's made out of tree sap and all. Once you were invited to his birthday since you know his other three brothers, and you didn't know what to get him. Based off what you'd heard from his brothers, you assumed syrup would be your best bet. When you arrived for the party the first thing you did was ask to use their kitchen. When it was time for presents you walked into the kitchen and brought out a steaming, freshly made stack of pancakes you had whipped up, dripping with maple syrup. Matthew had almost passed out when he saw it. He liked it so much that you had to make another batch for him and pour the rest of the syrup you brought along with you on it. Now every time you go over to play video games with Alfred you have to make Matthew a big stack of pancakes.

"(Y/n)!" Arthur yells again to get your attention. Your mind had been wandering again. "Honestly, what's wrong with you? I know you're not the strongest tea in the bag, but I never thought you were completely hopeless."

"Hey!" you say in response to his teasing. "I've got a lot on my mind. That's all."

"And whatever could be so important that it makes you space out like a bloody space cadet?"

You roll your eyes at Arthur's comment. "Well Iggy," you use his nickname to tick him off, "I've met someone recently."

Now it's Arthur's turn to roll his eyes. He's never been big on romance. "Who?"

"Somebody," you say not trying to give it away.

"It's not that guy from the party, is it?"

You don't get a chance to answer because suddenly there are people in your line waiting to check out. It's a few hours before you and England get a chance to talk again. By now the store is almost dead, and it's gotten dark outside.

Arthur turns around to talk to you. He's in the lane ahead of you, so sometimes when he's not looking you throw crumpled up paper at him and keep track of how much gets stuck in his messy hair. Usually this earns you a high five from Alfred, and a death glare from Arthur. "So you never answered my question."

"Which iiiiiiis?" you ask drawing out the last word to annoy him. Arthur hates it when people beat around the bush.

"Who is this guy?" Arthur demands starting to lose his patience.

"Since when do you care so much?" you say as you wiggle your eyebrows suggestively. Arthur hates anything that resembles someone mocking his eyebrows.

England begins to turn pink, then red, as he fumes next to his register. "Just answer the bloody question," he growls.

You sigh and do as you're told because you know it's not a good idea to push him any further. "It's not official or anything," you say trying to identify exactly what kind of relationship you and Ivan have, "but I've run into that guy from the party a few more times, and so today I gave him my number." You try to say it as nonchalantly as possible to avoid a bigger freak out than you know is coming.

"WHAT? Are you bloody mad? Do you even know who this guy is? I told you to avoid him. I've seen blokes like him before, and you don't want anything to do with them. Why didn't you listen to me?"

You patiently wait for Arthur to finish his tirade. It could've been worse you think to yourself. You look at the register clock and realize it's 7:00, which is when your shift ends. You close your register with a sigh and begin to walk to the break room to grab your stuff. Usually Arthur's rantings don't get to you, but this time you're pretty upset. What does he know about Ivan? Who is he to tell you what you can and can't do?

"(Y/n)!" Arthur calls. You turn and take a few steps in his direction until you're standing near his register. "Be careful. You don't know what this git wants from you."

"His name is Ivan," you inform him, "and he's the sweetest guy I know. You can take a few pointers from him on how to be a gentleman!"

You turn quickly and walk away, leaving England with his mouth hanging open in hurt and surprise. After you punch out, you grab your stuff out of your locker and make your way to the doors to leave. You don't look at Arthur as you pass the registers, and he does the same. If he's mad at you, fine. He's the one making wild accusations.

When you exit the store you look around for Ivan. You don't see him anywhere. Then you spot a large bouquet of sunflowers. You recognize them immediately because you had been admiring them in the floral department earlier this week, thinking that they remind you of Ivan. Strangely enough, these seem to have sprouted feet.

Feet clad in heavy, brown boots.

Ivan's head appears from the left side of the flowers. "Over here (y/n)." You practically skip to Ivan's side with a bright smile plastered on your face. He hands you the beautiful bouquet. "Sunflowers for my sunflower."

You accept the flowers and adjust them on your arm so that you can see where you're going, and Ivan. "Thank you Ivan. They're lovely."

"Just like you, da?"

You blush and cannot come up with anything to say in return. Ivan gestures with his hand and gives a little bow to indicate you can start walking. Turns out you weren't lying about Ivan being a gentleman. You nod your head once in response and begin to walk. He falls in step next to you, and the two of you walk toward your house in a comfortable silence.

A few moments go by before you become aware of something slipping into your hand. You look down and see that Ivan has interlocked his fingers with yours and is gently holding your hand. You quickly look up to his face. He's not looking at you, but you can see a slight pink color dusting his cheeks as you pass under a streetlight. It seems that your Russian gets embarrassed about your relationship as much as you do. You then realize you referred to Ivan as 'your Russian'. Can you call him that even though you're not sure what your relationship status is?

You decide those things don't really matter right now, and give Ivan's large, gloved hand a squeeze. He looks down at you and smiles, which you return without hesitation. Unlike this morning, you find that you don't need to fill the silence with words. The quiet suits Ivan just as well as happy conversation. You shift the large bouquet of sunflowers into a slightly more comfortable position. The smell coming off of them reminds you of sunshine and warm weather.

The two of you turn the corner to your street. Ivan slowly releases your hand when you reach your front door. He turns to you and hands you a foam box. You recognize it as a box from the deli at the grocery store where you work you can use to purchase food. He must have bought all these things for you while you were working and manage to check out without you noticing. "I got dinner for you. I know you didn't get lunch because of me, and I thought you would be hungry."

This causes a huge smile to appear on your face. Ivan really is the sweetest person you've ever met. "Thank you so much Ivan."

"Anything for my sunflower." He lifts his hand to scratch the back of his head nervously. "I was wondering, (y/n)," Ivan begins, "if you would like to go out with me sometime."

"Like a date?" you ask hopefully.

"Um, yes," he answers. "A date."

You frown slightly and say, "I don't know." He looks crestfallen at your indecision. All of a sudden you break into a grin. "Of course I will, Ivan! I'm just teasing."

Ivan then breaks into an equally large grin. "Good," he says, "I'll call you later, da?"

"Okay," you respond. You feel warm and cozy despite the chilly fall weather. You can't remember a time when you felt happier.

"Alright then. Спокойной ночи (goodnight) (y/n)."

"Goodnight Ivan."

Ivan slowly turns, with one last look at you, and walks off into the night.


	8. Chapter 8

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

The date with Ivan is set for tonight. It's been a few days since he asked you out, and you haven't seen him since. You've been texting him, but he won't tell you what you're going to be doing. All you know is that you need to dress up, and wear comfortable shoes. Now all that's left to do is get ready, which is harder said than done. You haven't been on a date in a long, long time.

You start to panic when you realize you have no idea what to do. Everything needs to look perfect for Ivan, but you're no expert in the makeover department. Looks like it's time to call in the emergency team.

About a half hour later, you're pacing back in forth in your living room. Your emergency team is all assembled. Gilbert is sitting on the couch with his feet propped on the opposite arm, effectively taking up the whole thing. Lili is sitting on the armchair next to the couch watching you pace back and forth. Feli is digging around your fridge looking for a snack.

"Calm down (y/n)," Gilbert says with a glance at you. "What's got you all worked up?"

You stop pacing long enough to explain the situation to the three of them.

"That's wonderful (y/n)," Lili says with a smile. "We'd love to help you get ready."

"Ve~!" Feli agrees in excitement.

"Wait a minute (y/n)." You turn and look at Gilbert. "I get why shorty and pasta boy are here, but why am I here? I'm not good with clothes or hair or any of that stuff."

You give Prussia a pleading look. "Please Gil, you have to be here you're my best friend."

Gilbert closes his eyes and groans. "Fine. I'll stay, but I feel bad not helping." A smile slowly spreads across his face, and he opens his eyes. "But I know some people who can."

A few phone calls later, the BTT, now fully assembled, sits together on the couch. Then the doorbell rings. Gilbert motions for you to stay while he answers the door. The opened door reveals an older looking girl with light brown hair and green eyes. She smiles when she sees Gilbert and gives him a big hug.

"Who's that?" you ask Francis and Antonio quietly.

"That's Gil's petite amie. His girlfriend," Francis whispers back.

You look at him in surprise. You didn't know Gilbert has a girlfriend. You look back at the two in the doorway. He smiles at her in a way you've never seen before. It's obvious he likes her a lot.

"(Y/n)," Gilbert motions for you to join them. You walk over to where the two are standing. "(Y/n), I want you to meet Hungary."

"It's nice to meet you." You hold out your hand.

Hungary ignores it and pulls you in for a hug. "Call me Elizabeta. It's so nice to meet you (y/n)!"

"So I guess everybody's here now, huh," you say after she releases you.  
Everyone nods in response. "Okay, let's get to work."

The next few hours is devoted to making you look perfect for Ivan. Feli and Lili help you pick out a stunning outfit. They argue back and forth for a while whether it should be more revealing, or less revealing, longer, or shorter, brighter in color, or more conservative. They finally pick out an outfit that satisfies both of them. It's a purple dress that reaches to your knees. You have a soft beige colored shawl around your shoulders, and dark brown, knee high boots that are comfortable to walk around in. It's fashionable, and practical.

Then Francis helps you with your hair. He takes his time curling every last strand of hair. He chatters in your ear the whole time, and you can't help but think he would fit in very well with the ladies at a salon. He then takes some hair from each side of you head, and twists it a few times, before pinning it to the back of your head. He goes a little overboard with the hairspray, but it's scented nicely, so you won't have to walk around with the smell of hairspray clinging to you like bad BO.

Finally it's Elizabeta's turn to do your makeup. She puts on a thin layer of concealer and foundation first to 'clean the palate' as she puts it. Then she applies a royal purple eye shadow, that's a shade darker than your dress, onto your eyelids. She then picks a slightly lighter shade of purple and uses that further outside, under your brows, while making sure to blend it in with the first color. She lines your upper eyelids with a black, liquid eyeliner, and finishes on the eyes by curling your lashes and applying mascara. She puts on some lip gloss that's only slightly darker than your natural lip color, and then adds the faintest bit of blush.

"The cold weather will give you a natural blush, so you don't need that much," Elizabeta informs you as she adds the finishing touches. "Here, hold still." She shakes out just a little bit of glitter into your hair, and your makeover is done.

You walk down the stairs from the bathroom, which has been used as makeover central, to see what Gilbert and Antonio think. It's not like they've been of much use otherwise. You walk into the living room to find them sprawled on the couch watching some reality show. You clear your throat to get their attention, and they both turn to look at you.

"You really clean up nice," Gilbert says with a smirk.

"You look maravilloso (amazing)," Toni says, his eyes widening.

By now the rest of your makeover crew has walked down the stairs, and joins the three of you in your living room.

"You're so pretty (y/n)," says Feli dreamily. "Veeeee~!"

"Ja," Lili agrees, "sehr schön (very pretty)."

"Are you ready to go?" Elizabeta asks.

"Yes," you say with a nod. "Thank you everyone for your help."

There's a chorus of responses from the large group in your living room. Little by little people start to filter out of your house. You receive hugs from many of them, and many shout good luck at you as they walk out the door. Francis is the last to leave, along with the other members of the BTT. He hesitates a moment at the door.

"You're going to take his breath away, ma chérie," he says with a wink, and walks out the door.

You're finally by yourself in your little house. You go up to your room to grab some things, and your phone, which has Ivan's address. You're going to meet him at his house before leaving for whatever he has planned. You double check that you have everything, and then put on your coat. You make sure to lock the house before setting off for Ivan's place.

Ivan lives in a large house several blocks away from yours. He says it belongs to a friend of his, and he's staying there for free as long as he takes care of it. When you arrive at the address you're given, you don't believe your eyes. This can't be his house, can it? It's huge! You give the door a few knocks, and then take a step back. You don't have to wait long before the door opens revealing a beaming Ivan.

"(Y/n)!" Ivan exclaims excitedly. "You're here!"

"Of course I'm here, silly. Why wouldn't I be?"

Ivan scratches the back of his head in embarrassment. "I thought maybe you had changed your mind. About me."

"No! Never!" you say in surprise. Then in a more gentle voice you add, "I could never change my mind, when it comes to you."

Ivan smiles and takes your hand. "We should go now, da?"

You nod, and Ivan leads the way, closing the front door as he goes. The two of you walk hand in hand through the frosty night air in the direction of the main part of town. You've lived in this city for a while now, so you wonder curiously where he's planning on taking you. A few more minutes of walking find the two of you on the main street of town. The lights of all the businesses illuminate the area as the two of you head down the street.

"Where are we going, Ivan?"

"You'll see," he replies mischievously. You pass many crowded restaurants, stores, and a movie theater, which is typical for a Saturday night. The two of you stop suddenly in front of a large restaurant, and Ivan gives your hand a squeeze. "We're here!" he says, obviously excited.

The restaurant is brightly lit and busy when you walk in. It's a fancier place with waiters weaving in between tables handing out leather bound menus and refilling wine glasses. Ivan leads you to a podium with a skinny man standing behind it. The man has a way of always looking down at you past his beaklike nose.

"Table for two," Ivan says to the man.

The man tilts his head back so he can look down at Ivan. "Do you have a reservation? Otherwise the wait is over an hour."

Your eyes widen at that. "Yes we do. It should be under 'Braginski'."

The man searches through his list of names. "Ah yes, here we are. Braginski, table for two." He motions a waiter over. "Follow him to your table."

The waiter leads the two of you to a table near the back of the restaurant. He hands you a menu and informs you that he'll be back later to take your order. You sit in silence while the two of you figure out what to order. The waiter returns a few minutes later with a pad to write down what you want. Ivan orders a steak, and you order a pasta dish. Feliciano would be proud. You hand your menu back to the waiter, and turn to face Ivan, who is smiling widely at you.

"What?" you ask. Maybe there's something wrong with the way you look. Maybe your makeup is smudged.

"You look beautiful," he says softly. You look away from his intense gaze and blush.

"Thank you," you manage to get out. "You look quite good yourself."

Ivan wore his usual trench coat, but nice, polished black shoes instead of boots. He's wearing black slacks and a white, button up shirt with a stripped purple tie. Somehow you two have managed to coordinate. The look is completed with a sharp looking black sports coat that accentuates his broad shoulders. You try your best not to stare at the gorgeous man in front of you.

The two of you chat for a while before your food arrives. You watch Ivan eat his steak, and think there's something sexy about a man who likes his meat. He notices you staring, and you quickly look down at your pasta and begin to eat. It's very good. Feli's going to be so jealous. The two of you decide to split a dessert, and so Ivan orders a slice of New York style cheesecake at your insistence. You buzz with excitement as you wait for your dessert.

"You look very excited (y/n)," Ivan comments.

"Of course!" you answer. "Cheesecake is my absolute favorite!"

Moments later the cheesecake arrives. It looks better than you imagined it would. Ivan lets you take the first bite since you're the one that's so excited over it. You fork a large piece in your mouth and chew contemplatively.

"How is it?" Ivan asks after taking a bite of his own.

"A little disappointing actually," you tell him. "I could make a better cheesecake than this at home." A passing waiter looks annoyed when you say that just a little too loudly.

"Well you'll have to prove that to me sometime," Ivan says with a wink.

"Gladly."

The two of you finish your dessert, and Ivan asks for the check. You offer to pay for your food, but Ivan refuses.

"It's my treat," the violet eyed man tells you.

The two of you leave the restaurant and walk in the direction of Ivan's house. He leads to to a park not far from his house. You've never been there before, and you look around in wonder. It's like something out of a fairy tale. There are cobblestone paths that snake all over the park with strategically placed benches here and there. Even though most of the plants are dead or dying, you can see the wonderful landscaping that's been done. Small trees and bushes line certain parts of the path, while large, much older trees occupy large plots of grass away from the paths. On one side of the park you can even see a playground with swings and everything.

Ivan leads you to the middle of the park. All of the different paths converge at this one point, and at the very center there's a large fountain with a statue in the center. The statue is of a beautiful angel with her wings spread and hands extended. She has a small smile carved into her stone face, and you notice the detail chiseled into every fold of the dress she has on. The water's been turned off because of the cold, so you can see your reflection, when you let go of Ivan's hand, in the still water pooled in the fountain's basin.

"Ivan, it's lovely here," you say as you turn back towards him. "I can only imagine what it looks like in the spring."

"There are flowers everywhere," he says as he looks across the park. "No sunflowers, but still, very pretty. Just like you," he adds when he looks back at you.

Elizabeta had been right about the natural blush, but it wasn't from the cold. The two of you stand in silence for a few moments. "Ivan, do you remember that night I was almost attacked?"

"Da," he replies, his expression darkening at the memory. His eyes darken into a deep shade of purple, and you notice him clench his fists.

"Of course you haven't forgotten. That's a silly question." Ivan doesn't say anything. "I never thanked you for what you did," you say and turn to him.

"There's no need for that," Ivan says with a softer look on his face. "Knowing you're safe is enough for me."

You smile slightly at the Russian's words. "That night you became my..." you pause not knowing exactly what to call him. You can't call him your hero since Alfred has pretty much copywrited that phrase. Calling him your savior also doesn't seem right. You search your mind for the right word, and finally, you find a word that fits him just right. "Knight," you say quietly, and then louder you add, "You're my knight in shining armor."

"Knight?" Ivan questions.

"Yes, it's perfect! You're sweet and kind, and you act like a perfect gentleman. You're big and tall and strong, and you make me feel safe. Not only do you make me feel safe, but you swooped in and rescued me when I needed to be saved. You're my knight," you explain excitedly.

"Your knight," Ivan repeats trying out the expression. "Da, okay. I will be your knight." He takes a step forward and pulls you closer to him. You gladly let him, happy for the warmth he brings against the chill of the night air. He leans his face a little closer to yours and whispers softly, "I will be your knight, if you be my sunflower."

Your eyes flick up to meet with Ivan's bright purple ones. You can see emotions swirling inside of them. Could they be emotions for you? "Of course, Mr. Knight," you whisper back to him.

He smiles brightly, and then leans in to close the gap between you two. His lips are soft and warm against yours. Your mind starts to melt as the kiss continues. Ivan has his arms wrapped around your waist, and you have your hands on his chest. You can feel his heart beating quickly through the many layers of clothes he has on. His tongue brushes lightly against your bottom lip before he breaks the kiss.

It ends all too quickly for your liking, but Ivan doesn't let you go. "Shall we be heading home now, подсолнечник (sunflower)?"

"If it's alright with you, Mr. Knight."

The two of you walk out of the park hand in hand as the angel statue watches you with a small, knowing smile.


	9. Chapter 9

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

The date with Ivan couldn't have gone any better. It was probably one of the happiest days of your life, if not the happiest. Everything went perfectly, and you get a goofy grin on your face every time you think about that kiss. Remembering the feeling of his warm lips on yours is enough to give you goose bumps. You giggle to yourself happily as you replay the moment in your mind. You jump a little in surprise as your phone buzzes. It's the day after the date, and you've been waiting for Ivan to text you all day. You grab your phone and open the text.

It's from Ivan, and it reads:

(Y/n), I'm sorry, but something has come up and I won't be able to see you for a while. I don't know for how long, but don't come by my house, whatever you do. Don't respond to this either. You have to trust me.

You let your phone fall out of your hand. Your brain can't compute what just happened. It sounds like Ivan doesn't want to see you anymore, but the date was amazing. He said you looked pretty and everything. He even kissed you for crying out loud! You don't do that to someone you don't want to see anymore. You pick up your phone and read the message again. The last line catches your eye. 'Trust me' it says. You start to feel a little better. He expects you to trust him, which means he's not ditching you or anything like that. At least you hope.

You set your phone down on your bed where it was resting before. You're not sure what to do anymore. Today's your day off, and you had kind of been counting on Ivan to rescue you from your boredom. You think about his message some more. Whatever has come up must be really important if he can't see you, but he specifically warned you not to go to his house. That makes you suspicious, but you decide to trust Ivan like he asks. You lay down on your bed with a sigh. He better have a good explanation for this.

It's been a few weeks since you got that text from Ivan, and you still haven't seen him. You've kept yourself busy by going to classes, doing homework, going to work, and spending time with your friends. It's Thursday, your day off from lectures, so you're on your way to work. The only other person at the store when you get there is Arthur. You throw your stuff in a locker and punch in. The bagger must be outside, you think, because both you, and Arthur, don't have one.

"(Y/n)," Arthur says turning to you.

"Arthur," you respond curtly without looking up.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I said." You look up in surprise. Ever since the two of you had had that argument several weeks ago, you haven't talked. "I was just trying to look out for you, but that didn't give me the right to yell at you." You could tell he was sincere in what he said. Even though it upset you when he questioned your choices, you know enough is enough.

"I'm sorry too," you tell him. "I shouldn't have questioned your gentlemanlyness," you say starting to smile. "Friends?" you ask extending your hand.

"Friends," he agrees shaking it.

The two of you talk in between customers, and you fill him in on what's been going on with you and Ivan. You go into great detail when describing your date, but you leave out the part with the kiss. You figure Arthur wouldn't want to hear about that, and you probably couldn't tell him without blushing like crazy. You also tell him about the text you got as well.

"Well I admit he sounds like a gentleman," Arthur says almost grudgingly. "But I would still be careful if I were you. Even if there's nothing terribly wrong with him, you can bet that there's someone around him that's the actual whack job. Aura's like his tend to attract people with similar auras."

"Again with the mumbo jumbo?" you ask rolling your eyes.

"Trust me, I'm usually not wrong about this kind of stuff."

You suddenly remember the dark aura that surrounded Ivan when you ran into those two thugs. He had warned you at the party that something about Ivan is a little off. Maybe Iggy's right after all. "I'll keep it in mind."

"There's something not right about that text though," Arthur says. "It seems really suspicious. Not the part that he can't see you, but the part where he tells you to stay away. He's hiding something."

Your stomach does a sickening flip. You had been thinking that yourself these last few weeks, but you trusted Ivan, and didn't pursue it. That's when you hear two girls talking really loudly by the magazines. You recognize them as students at your college. You don't usually eavesdrop, but something one of the girls says catches your attention immediately.

"So have you seen that girl following Russia around lately?" asks one girl to the other. She's tall and has dark brown hair.

"Which one is he again?" the shorter of the two girls asks back.

"He's the tall cute guy with the scarf," the tall girl answers with a giggle. That pisses you off. You'd love to wipe that grin that appeared on her stupid face when she mentioned Ivan right off, but you decide it's better not to get involved. "He's in my Business Ethics class."

"Oh right!" the short one replies. "Yeah, now that you mention it I do remember seeing him with some creepy looking girl earlier this week." At this they both shiver.

"She looks like she's going to kill someone, and the way she hangs on Russia is just weird."

The rest of the conversation is meaningless to you as it turns towards more petty things. You turn and give Arthur a look, and he returns it. Something is definitely not right.

You punch out at the end of your shift, and grab your stuff so you can go home. Once you get home you change out of your uniform into some more casual clothing. You grab your phone and keys, and slip them into your coat pocket. On your way home from work, you decided that you've waited long enough, and that you're going to see what's going on with Ivan. The things the two girls said convinced you of that. You lock your door as you leave the house and start to walk to Ivan's. The weather has grown much colder in the last few weeks, and you've started wearing a scarf and gloves outside. It started getting really frosty right around Halloween, but now that it's November, it's even worse. You suspect it might snow soon from the look of the clouds as you walk.

As you approach Ivan's house, you notice three figures standing in front of it. Already things aren't looking good. You cautiously walk closer, and notice the three men don't look all that suspicious. One of them looks pretty young, so you decide they can't be bad people. The tall blonde with glasses notices you and says something to the other two. Then the brunette with shoulder length hair starts to walk towards you, and you continue walking towards the house. He stops when he reaches the end of the small walkway that leads from the front door to the sidewalk.

He greets you when you make it to the walkway. "Hello, do you have business with Mr. Russia?"

"Um, in a way, yes," you reply unsure. You hadn't expected this.

"He's not seeing anyone right now," the brunette informs you.

"I know. It's just that I haven't seen him in a while, and I want to know what's going on."

The man looks surprised. "Then by any chance is your name (y/n)?"

It's your turn to look surprised. "Y-yes it is."

He offers you his hand, and you shake it. "It's nice to meet you Miss (y/n). My name is Toris. I'm an associate of Mr. Russia." He motions for you to walk with him down the walkway. "Come meet the others." You walk with him towards the two other men. "Eduard! Ravis! This is Miss (y/n)!" Toris calls to the others.

The other two look at each other in surprise. You're not sure what to make of all of this. Then the tall one with glasses shakes your hand. "My name is Eduard. It's nice to meet you."

You're then approached by the short one with curly blonde hair. "Hello Miss (y/n). My name is Ravis. It's very nice to finally meet you in person."

"In person?" you ask confused. "Has someone been talking about me?"

The other two men quickly grab Ravis's mouth to keep him from saying much more. "It's not our place to talk about that," says Eduard nervously. "Ravis here may be a genius, but he doesn't always behave like one."

"Oh," you say, not sure how you should respond to that. "So, um…where's Ivan?"

The three noticeably pale. "He's asked that he not be bothered," says Toris. "By anyone."

You start to reply when you hear a familiar voice from the house. "(Y/n)?"

You turn around to see Ivan standing in the doorway looking the same as ever, if not a bit flustered. "Ivan!" you exclaim.

"You shouldn't be here," he tells you looking nervous.

"Why not?" You're starting to panic after all the weird stuff that's happened so far.

"Because I'm here, and so Brother doesn't have time for the likes of you." A figure appears in the doorway behind Ivan. She pushes her way out the door to face you. The three other men are visibly shaking at the appearance of this mysterious girl. Even Ivan looks wary of her. "And who are you?" she asks in a cold voice.

You look at her carefully before you answer. She's about the same height as you, and has waist length platinum blonde hair. She has on a dark blue dress with a white waist apron. She also has a large white bow on top of her head. "I-I'm (y/n)," you manage to get out as she walks towards you.

"My name's Natalya," she says while circling around you to get a good look. "But you should call me Belarus," she snarls in your ear. You shiver. "You're going to stay far, far away from my brother, understand?"

You turn and look at her with fear. Arthur was right. Ivan does have someone close to him with a problem. A major problem. Belarus stands right in front of you, blocking Ivan from your sight. She starts cackling quietly and slips something from under her apron that looks like a knife. You stare at her with wide, fear filled eyes as she points the blade at you.

"NATALYA!" Ivan bellows from the doorway. "Get in the house."

Belarus gives you one last loathing look, then follows her brother's order. She slams the door shut behind her. As soon as she's gone, you collapse to your knees, and release a breath you didn't know you were holding. The three men also release a collective sigh. The tension in the atmosphere has dropped significantly. Small snowflakes have even started falling slowly from the sky.

Ivan walks over to you quickly. "Are you alright (y/n)?"

You notice that he's also shaking slightly. What kind of a person is Belarus if she has an effect like this on Ivan too? "I-I'm alright," you say, your voice trembling.

He helps you stand up. "Make sure Natalya doesn't leave the house," he says to the still shaking men, who don't look very happy with that at all. "Come with me, sunflower. We will go somewhere else, and I will explain everything." Ivan takes your hand and leads you down the walkway to the sidewalk. He pauses briefly to give you a gentle kiss. "I've missed you, подсолнечник (sunflower)."

"I've missed you too," you tell him as the two of you continue walking down the street hand in hand.


	10. Chapter 10

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Snow falls from the sky in slow, lazy circles as you and Ivan walk into a café. The two of you were silent the whole way there. You find a small table in the back while Ivan orders something at the counter. A few minutes later, he joins you at the table with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. You take a small sip, grateful for the warmth it brings.

Ivan is the first to break the silence. "I'm so sorry (y/n)."

"For what?"

He looks down at the mug between his hands. "For avoiding you for so long. I did it to keep you safe from Natalya. I hope you understand that, подсолнечник (sunflower)."

"Is she...always like that?" you ask.

"More or less," Ivan says with a sigh. "I have two sisters. My elder sister is Katyusha. She's the one who gave me this шарф." He touches his scarf fondly. "My younger sister is Natalya." He shudders. "She is...very fond of me." He shudders again. "Unfortunately she is also not afraid to hurt anyone who gets in her way."

You reach out and hold Ivan's hand. He becomes increasingly distressed as he talks about his younger sister. "This has been going on for a while, hasn't it?"

"Da. This isn't the first time she's come to see me since I've come here." Ivan takes a long drink of hot chocolate. "The last time, I let her stay with me until she had enough and left. That took a few weeks. I usually have the Baltic trio help me with that."

"The Baltic trio?" you ask, and then it dawns on you. "Oh, is that what you call Ravis, Toris, and Eduard?"

"Yes," Ivan confirms with a nod. "Although most call them Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia."

"Toris said something about being an associate of yours. What's up with that?" you ask taking another sip of your hot chocolate. It tastes amazing, especially since it's cold out.

"Ah yes, I told you I want to start a business, da?" You nod remembering the conversation the two of you had in your dining room. "Well they are going to into business with me, once I get my degree. We decided on construction since it's a business I know very well."

"Are you all friends then?" you ask after finishing your hot chocolate. It leaves you feeling very warm inside.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Ivan says after finishing his own mug of hot chocolate. "That's why I ask them to help me with Natalya."

Natalya. You had almost forgotten about her. "How long is she going to be here?"

"I don't know," he answers with a frown. "Actually, I was hoping she'd leave soon. I tried to keep you away from her as long as possible." Ivan puts his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry (y/n). I couldn't protect you this time."

"No! Ivan, don't say that," you say jumping up from your seat. Ivan looks up when he hears your chair clatter. "You're my knight!" you insist. "Besides, she hasn't actually done anything to me, so there's nothing to worry about."

Ivan smiles slightly. "You have a lot of faith in me, подсолнечник (sunflower)."

"Of course I do." You walk to his side of the table. "You're my knight. If I don't have faith in you, who will?" You lean in and give him a kiss on the cheek.

Ivan wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you even closer. "Thank you, (y/n)," he says softly. "Let's go home, da?" You nod nervously. "Don't fear, подсолнечник (sunflower). I will keep you safe."

The two of you exit the cafe hand in hand, and walk to Ivan's house. When you arrive, the Baltic trio are still standing outside in the snow, too afraid to go into the house. They jump slightly when they feel Ivan's presence. They sure are nervous, you think to yourself.

"Is she still inside Toris?" Ivan asks the brunette.

"Y-yes Mr. Russia," Toris answers. "We heard some things breaking inside, but it's been quiet for a while now."

Ivan sighs and rubs his temple with his free hand. "Alright, I'll go check on her. Hopefully I can convince her to leave today." He lets go of your hand and takes a step towards the front door. "Wait here with the Baltics, подсолнечник (sunflower)."

You nod silently. He kisses your forehead and opens the door. Ravis's eyes open wide. "I've never seen Mr. Russ-" He's quickly stopped by Eduard and Toris. Luckily, Ivan has already stepped into the house and closed the door.

"Honestly Ravis. You need to be more careful," Estonia says while shaking his head. "You can't just say whatever you like in front of Mr. Russia."

"Sorry," Ravis says looking at the ground.

"So, um, you guys are going into business with Ivan?" you ask trying to break the nervous tension.

"Ah, so Mr. Russia has told you then?" Toris asks.

"Yeah. He mentioned it."

"We've known Mr. Russia for quite some time," Eduard informs you. "He wants to start a business and asked for our help. We'll start after we graduate next year." You wonder why they address Ivan so formally, but you decide it's not that big of a deal.

You turn and look at Ravis. "Aren't you a little young to help run a business."

"Um, well...technically, yes," he answers sheepishly.

"Ravis is quite the genius," Toris explains. "He graduated very early from high school, and now he's going to college with the rest of us."

"Unfortunately, he doesn't act as smart as he actually is," Eduard adds while adjusting his glasses.

"So, do you all have experience with construction?" You ask because the Baltics don't look like the brawny type that usually work construction. Ivan on the other hand fits that bill very nicely.

The three look at each other and give a half hearted chuckle. "Well, Mr. Russia is the only one with real construction experience," Lithuania explains.

"We're going to be involved with the business aspect only," explains Eduard. Latvia nods in agreement. "That's the kind if degrees we're working towards."

"Oh," you say, not sure what else to say.

"What do you want to do (y/n)?" Ravis asks you.

"I want to be a chef, so I'm working on a culinary degree."

"Why are you going to school here then instead of a high class culinary school?" Toris asks, not in a mean way, but a curious one.

"Oh, well it's cheaper here," you say, "My parents and I don't have the money to send me to a really nice school." Not to mention this one is far away from your high school bullies.

"Working in a restaurant sounds way better than construction. Honestly, we'd rather be involved in a more interesting business," Ravis says with a flick of his curly blonde hair.

Estonia gives him a smack to the back of his head. "How many times do I have to tell you to be careful with what you say?" he asks, obviously exasperated.

"But it's true!"

Suddenly you hear angry shouting coming from inside the house. The Baltics jump nervously. Ravis starts shaking uncontrollably and hides behind Eduard. Their reaction does nothing to reassure you.

"D-don't worry," Toris stutters out and smiles at you. You assume it's meant to look reassuring, but it's far from that. "T-this is n-normal."

That's when the door bursts open. At first you don't see what caused it, but then you do. A dark aura proceeds Belarus as she storms out the door. She stops halfway to the sidewalk, and turns to glare daggers at you. You swear your heart stops, as if she plunged a real dagger into your chest. Better not give her any ideas, you think sarcastically to yourself. Now is not the best time to be thinking such thoughts.

"You," she snarls dangerously. She stomps up to you and gets right in your face. "It's your fault Brother wants me to leave. It's all. Your. Fault." She spits each word into your face.

"N-Natalya," Toris says taking a step towards the two of you. "Y-you don't have to do this."

"Shut up Toris," Belarus snaps at him. "I don't expect an idiot like you to understand." He flinches like he's been physically struck. She turns back toward you. "No one can ever love Brother the way I do."

"N-N-Natalya," you start to say.

"Don't call me that!" she shrieks at you. "Don't act like you know me!"

Belarus pulls the same knife from earlier out of her apron. You try to take a step back, but you can't get your body to move. All you can do is stare and tremble as she brings the knife up for you to look at. "This is going to hurt you a lot more than it's going to hurt me," she growls in a low voice.

"Natalya," a gruff voice calls from the front door. Everyone turns to look at Ivan standing in the doorway. His hair is ruffled, and he's breathing heavy. "It's time for you to leave now, сестра (sister)." Belarus looks from Ivan to you, and back to Ivan. "Now."

She lets out a low, animal like growl. Then she turns to you suddenly and lashes out quickly. You raise your gloved hand to fend off her attack, and when you lower it, she's gone. Everyone lets out a sigh of relief.

"I-I hope she never comes back," Ravis says quietly from where he stands.

Ivan appears behind him and places a gloved hand on his head. "You and me both," he says. Ravis begins to shake again at the large man's touch. Ivan then turns to you. "Are you alright (y/n)?"

You nod from the ground. After Belarus left, you lost all strength in your legs and sank to the ground. Toris had quickly come to check on you. He looks troubled by something and turns to look at Ivan.

"M-Mr. R-Russia," he says, nervous at addressing the violet eyed man.

"What is it Toris?"

"Y-you might want to come and look at this."

You look over at Toris confused. What could be so important? That's when you feel something warm against your palm. Ivan quickly walks over to you, and the two of you look down at what Lithuania is indicating. You gasp, and Ivan knits his brows together in anger and concern. There's a gash starting from your wrist that runs across your palm, and ends just under the pinky finger of your left hand. Warm blood seeps from the wound and begins to soak your glove.

"Oh," you say, not quite grasping the situation. "These are new gloves."

"We need to get you to a hospital," Ivan turns to the Baltics. "NOW!"

"I'll get the car," Eduard says as he heads for the street.

"Ravis, get something to stop the bleeding!" Toris yells.

"W-what should I get?" Ravis shouts back in confusion.

"Anything!"

"There's no time," Ivan mumbles as he kneels next to you. He takes off his scarf and starts wrapping your hand with it.

You wince in pain. "Not the scarf Ivan. It'll get dirty." You're staring to get light headed.

"You're more important, подсолнечник (sunflower)." Ivan finished wrapping your hand and picks you up bridal style. "Where's Eduard with the car?" he demands.

"He's waiting on the street," Toris says pointing. Ivan hurries with you towards the car. Eduard is there waiting with the door open, and Ivan climbs into the back seat with you in his lap.

Toris and Ravis watch as the car speeds away. The snow is falling harder now, and the two shift uncomfortably against the cold. The snow that lands near where you had been sitting turns a sickly red color before it melts.

"D-do you think Miss (y/n) will be alright?" Latvia asks Toris.

"I hope so," he says, and the two of them walk toward the house to wait inside.


	11. Chapter 11

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Eduard drives as fast as he can, without endangering anyone, to the hospital on the other side of town. He remains fairly calm as he passes cars left and right, receiving angry honks from several drivers.

"Hold on (y/n)" Ivan says trying to stay calm. He strokes you face while you sit on his lap, trying to keep you conscious. "Stay with me, sunflower."

You try to focus on Ivan, but his face is becoming blurry. The pain in your hand finally starts to register, and it's becoming unbearable. "Ivan," you whimper, "it hurts."

"I know, подсолнечник (sunflower)," Ivan says, his panic increasing each minute. "I know. You just need to hold on a little longer."

"We're almost there," Eduard informs the two of you. "Get ready to get out of the car."

"Thank you," Ivan says tersely.

Blood has started to soak through the scarf wrapped around your hand. You're shaking uncontrollably, and covered in a cold sweat. "Ivan," you manage to croak out, "I'm scared."

"It's going to be okay. Just hold on," Ivan tells you sounding desperate. Just then the car stops in front of the emergency room doors. Ivan doesn't hesitate a moment as he carries you out of the car and rushes toward the hospital.

"I need help!" he calls as he bursts through the hospital doors. Several other people sitting in the waiting room look at the two of you in surprise. They notice the blood, now starting to drip down your arm, and look away.

A nurse hurries over to Ivan. "Oh my goodness," she says seeing your hand. "Bring her through here."

She leads you through some doors on the other side of the waiting room and pages some doctors. Another nurse comes with a gurney and has Ivan lay you in it. Several doctors arrive and start taking your vital signs. Ivan steps back and lets the doctors do their work.

"Ivan," you call weakly. You hold your uninjured hand out weakly.

He takes your hand and places a kiss on your knuckles. "I'll be here waiting подсолнечник (sunflower). I promise."

The doctors start wheeling you away, and you slowly lose consciousness.

You wake up in a hospital bed to the sound of hospital machines making a steady beeping sound. You look in the direction of the sound and notice the heart monitor displaying information on your heart. You look to your other side and notice a figure slumped over in the chair next to your bed.

"Ivan?" you ask in a hoarse voice.

The figure stirs. "Hm? (Y/n)?" He looks over at you. "(Y/n)!" Ivan jumps out of his chair and closes the gap to your bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," you reply with a faint smile. You look down at your left hand. It's bandaged in white gauze, no trace of the bloody mess it used to be.

Then a nurse walks in. "Oh, I see you're awake," she says with a smile. She checks your vitals and writes something on a clipboard she has with her. "How are you feeling dear?"

"Better," you reply. You're not sure what else to say.

"Well thats always a good sign. It took 34 stitches to close up your hand," she informs you.

You look at your hand again and remember something important. "Where is the scarf that was wrapped around it?"

"Funny you should ask," the nurse answers, and pulls it from her pocket. It's been cleaned, and is as white as it was before it got soaked in your blood. "After the doctors unwrapped it, you wouldn't let them take it away until they promised to give it back to you," she says as she hands it back to you. "I'm sure you don't remember that though, you were pretty out of it."

You take the scarf from the nurse and try to remember. Nothing comes back to you. The last thing you can recall is Ivan promising to wait for you. "Thank you," you tell the nurse as she turns to leave.

"Just gimme a holler if you need anything," she says to the both of you before leaving the room.

You turn to Ivan and hand him the scarf. "I'm glad we got it back."

"Da, so am I." He puts it in its usual place around his neck. "That wouldn't be the first time I've seen it soaked in blood," he mumbles as he looks at the freshly laundered scarf.

You decide it's better to not ask what he means by that. "How long have I been out?"

"You slept all night," Ivan tells you. He turns to look at the clock on the bedside table. "It's about 10:20 Friday morning now."

"Oh," you say and think about what you had planned for today. "I guess I missed my classes today."

Ivan nods slowly. "Many people have been calling you," he says holding up your phone. "You'll be getting a lot of visitors today."

You take your phone and start going through your call log. Gilbert, Lili, Alfred, Feli, and Arthur have all called you, and you've gotten several texts from Francis. "You'll stay, right?"

"If you want me to." You nod. "Then I will." Ivan pulls his chair closer to your bed and takes a seat. He looks away and sits quietly for a long time.

You start to become worried. "Ivan?"

"I'm so sorry, (y/n)." This catches you by surprise. "I promised I would keep you safe, and then this happens. Мне очень жаль (I'm so sorry)." He's looking at you now, and he has a lot of pain in his eyes.

"Ivan-"

"No! Don't tell me it's alright! This is my fault. If only I had gotten Natalya to leave sooner..." Ivan slumps over in his chair.

You sit quietly for a moment, contemplating what to do, then reach over with your uninjured hand, and touch the side of his face. "Don't be upset, Ivan. It's not your fault." He looks up to protest, but you shush him by placing your hand over his lips. "You told me to stay away for a while, but I'm the one who came anyway. If anything, it's my fault." You lean in a little closer and add in a softer voice, "Please don't be sad, Mr. Knight."

You remove your hand so that Ivan can talk, but he doesn't say anything. Instead he takes your hand gently in his. He kisses you on the forehead, and then the nose. Then he moves to your lips and gives you a long, lingering kiss. "I'm glad you're okay, подсолнечник (sunflower)."

As soon as the words leave his lips, a large group of people come bustling into your room. Ivan takes a step back and watches the commotion. Feli was the first one through the door and is now standing by your bed asking so many questions you can't keep up. Then Elizabeta comes in and gives you a big hug. The BTT are right behind her, but the three get stuck trying to go through the door at the same time. When they finally get through, Francis presents you a bouquet of roses, Antonio has a small box of chocolates, and Gilbert hands you a card. Next come Alfred and Arthur each holding a teddy bear. You notice Matthew also slip in quietly. Last, walk in Lili and Vash. Vash waits by the door. Ivan gives him a small nod of acknowledgement. Seems like the protective type can sense one of their own.

"(Y/n)! I was so worried when you didn't pick up the phone," Feli cries.

"Yeah! You had us worried, you git," Arthur says from the foot of your bed.

"Dude! Be nicer to (y/n)!" Alfred scolds. "We're all glad you're okay, (y/n)," he adds with a smile.

"Ja. Brother and I were very worried," Lili tells you, and gives you a hug. You look over at Switzerland who nods once at you, and you smile back.

"This stunt you pulled was not awesome." Gilbert pushes past a few people to stand next to you. "But I'm glad you're okay," he adds in a softer tone.

Elizabeta leans in, and in a mock whisper, says, "He was more worried than he lets on." That makes you smile, and earns a few laughs out of the crowd. Then in a lower voice she adds, "So is that him?" indicating Ivan with her eyes. You nod. "Nice catch," she teases with a wink.

"So what happened, ma chérie?" Francis asks the question on everyone's mind.

Belarus is not something you want everyone to know about, so you make something up on the spot. "I-I dropped a dish in the sink while I was washing them. It must have broken, and when I reached into the water it gave me a real nasty cut." You hold up your bandaged hand to emphasize your point. "Luckily Ivan showed up and got me to the hospital."

At the mention of the Russian, everyone turns to look at him, except Lili and Elizabeta since they're well aware of who he is. Arthur just glares.

Gilbert turns back towards you. "Is he...?" You nod confirming Ivan is indeed the guy you got all dressed up for. Gilbert looks back at Ivan and gives him a quick once over. He walks up to Ivan with a slightly suspicious look on his face. After a few moments he says, "You better treat (y/n) right, or else."

Ivan nods in response, and Gilbert relaxes. The tension in the room lifts slightly. Alfred, Feli, and Matthew seem oblivious to what's actually going on. Feli starts messing around with one of the bears you've been given, and soon everyone is talking with you or each other.

Your nurse pops her head through the door to see what all the commotion is. Her eyes widen at the number of people crowded in your room. "Oh no, this is not going to happen." She starts shooing people out of the room. "Don't you know a patient need to rest! Out, all of you!"

Feli, Alfred, and the BTT run out of the room real quick while shouting goodbyes over their shoulders. Elizabeta mumbles something about Gilbert and a frying pan after watching him escape the room. She tells you goodbye and walks out after him. Lili apologizes to the nurse, and she and Switzerland walk out of the room with a wave. That leaves Arthur and the quiet Matthew left in your room. Matthew says something quietly to Arthur, waves goodbye to you, and then leaves the room.

Arthur takes a step toward your bed. "What really happened (y/n)?" Of course Arthur doesn't believe your story. He must have heard you stutter when telling your made up story.

Your eyes flick over to Ivan. He has his back turned and is giving the two of you privacy. "You were right about him," you say, your voice dropping to a whisper.

Arthur's eyes open wide. "(Y/n)! I warned you-"

"No, no, no! That came out wrong," you say, frantically waving your hands. Your voice drops back into a whisper. "You were right about him having someone close to him that's messed up. She has a real problem."

"She?" he asks raising a large eyebrow.

"A sister," you whisper. "But she's gone now, so I don't think it'll be a problem anymore."

Arthur still looks concerned, and casts another wary glance in Ivan's direction. "Well, if you say so. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will," you tell him smiling.

He walks to the door and turns to wave goodbye. Then he too walks out the door. "You've got some interesting friends, dear," the nurse says. You jump. You had completely forgotten she was still in the room. "Is your hand bothering you at all?" You shake your head. "Okay, I'll be back in a few hours to change the dressing." She walks out the door and leaves you alone with Ivan.

He turns to look at you, and pulls his chair back by your bed. "Are your friends normally like that?" You nod, thinking of them fondly. "They are a very odd group."

You laugh and nod some more. "But that's what makes them so special. They're very important to me."

Ivan nods once. "I've never had friends like that. Not until you," he says looking at you fondly.

That makes you blush. "Ivan, I've wondered this for a while now, but why did you pick me?" You look away from him. "Why do you try so hard for me?"

His look softens, and he gently turns your head so you face him once more. "Because you very much reminded me of how I used to be, подсолнечник (sunflower)."

"What?" you ask, very much confused. "How so?"

"When I was young," Ivan starts, "I did not have many friends. Only my sisters. Many people tried to take advantage of me. I saw a similar pain in your eyes. You know what it's like to be pushed around just because others have more power." His eyes darken, but the look disappears as soon as you lay your good hand on his shoulder. "I wanted to save you from your pain. I didn't want you to turn out like me."

"Oh Ivan," you say softly. You spend the next hour telling him about your high school bullies. You smile when you finish your story. "I'm not afraid anymore though," you tell him. "I have you now, Mr. Knight."

"Da, sunflower, you do."

Your nurse walks into your room again. "Knock knock," she says brightly. "I've got your release papers," she informs you. "You can leave as soon as your bandages are changed." She sets down the bandage kit she brought in with her on your bedside table. "You live alone, don't you dear?" You nod, not sure what she's getting at. "Well you're going to have to find someone to stay with. You can't be left alone until you get your stitches out. Doctor's orders. We don't want you over exerting yourself and opening your wound again." She starts undoing your wrappings.

You try to think of who you can stay with. Arthur and Alfred is a no since there's four of them living together already. You can't ask Gilbert since his brother is your boss. That would just be too weird. You don't want to inconvenience Lili and Switzerland, and you don't think Vash would be too thrilled with you staying with them anyway. Feli is definitely out of the question. You can handle his hyperness for a while, but you would never survive living at his place. You also don't live off of pasta and pizza like he does. Who else does that leave?

"There, all done." The nurse puts the bandages away. "Make sure you keep your hand dry, and very clean. Change the bandages twice a day. You should come back in two weeks to get your stitches checked. Take it easy when you first get home. You lost quite a bit of blood, so you shouldn't move around too much." She walks to the other side of the bed, disconnects you from your monitor, and turns it off. Then she takes out your IV, which you've been avoiding looking at. She walks back to the door. "Stay safe now dear." She gives you a quick wave and walks out the door.

"Who am I supposed to stay with?" you say, voicing your thoughts out loud.

"It's already been taken care of." You turn to look at Ivan in surprise. "One of the nurses informed me of this earlier, so I've made arrangements for you to stay with me."

"W-what about my stuff?" you ask flustered. This is unexpected, but honestly, you should have seen it coming.

"The Baltics stopped by your house earlier and picked up everything you'll need. Everything has been taken care of." Ivan repeats.

You let the news sink in. You're going to be living with Ivan for the next few weeks! It's one of those things all girls fantasize about. "Alright, when do we get out of here?"

"Whenever you're ready," he tells you with a big smile. "Toris has the car waiting outside."


	12. Chapter 12

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Your transition to living with Ivan wasn't as weird as you thought it would be. You have most of the north half on the second floor in his gigantic house to yourself. The Baltics brought all of your clothes and such to the house already, so there wasn't much you had to do. You have a large bedroom all to yourself, and a really nice bathroom too. Your things had been set up in both rooms when you arrived.

Ivan had given you a tour of the place when you first got there too. The house isn't big enough for you to get lost in, but every once in a while you'll open a door, and it won't be the room you thought it was. On top of letting you stay at his house, Ivan is very protective over you. At first he wouldn't even let you carry your textbooks around. He's relaxed a bit after a few days, but he still keeps a very careful eye on you.

You manage to go back to classes right away, and your friends fill you in on what you missed the days you stayed home to recuperate. You even make it to work, but Germany has you doing mostly paperwork, or various housekeeping things at the service desk. He refuses to let you work a register.

"The last thing I need is for one of my best cashiers to be out of commission for another two weeks because she carelessly reopened her wound from doing things she shouldn't be with an injured hand," he informs you when you beg to be put on a register. You sigh in defeat. There's no arguing with Ludwig once he sets his mind to something.

A few days later you and Ivan are sitting in his front room. You're sitting in an armchair reading a novel, and he's sitting on a couch taking notes out of a textbook. There's a large fireplace in the room, and Ivan has a roaring fire going in it to keep the two of you warm. It's been about a week since the incident with Belarus, and your hand has been steadily recovering.

You place your bookmark between the pages of your book, and set it down on the small table between your chair and the couch. You get up out of the chair and walk to the fireplace. Ivan doesn't look up from his notes, but you know he's aware of your movements. Nothing ever gets past the keen Russian. You watch the fire for a while, memorized by the dancing flames. You tend to get restless very easily lately because of the physical limitations caused by having only one properly working hand, so you walk around the room looking at various objects.

You pause at the bookshelf next to the fireplace to read the different titles. You've looked at it at least a hundred times, but you don't really have much else to do. You move back to the fireplace and notice something on the mantle. There are three Russian nesting dolls sitting in a row, but they look different than ones you've seen before.

"Ivan?" He looks up. "What are these?" you ask pointing.

"Matryoshka dolls," he says.

"Matryoshka," you repeat to yourself. You've never heard them called by their Russian name. "Why do they look so...different?" you ask not being able to come up with a better way to describe them.

Ivan closes his textbook and rises from the couch to join you at the mantle. "They're modeled after me and my sisters," he informs you. "This one is Katyusha," he says pointing at the largest. "This one is me, and this one," he points at the smallest doll, "is Natalya."

You look closely at each doll. Ivan's oldest sister's doll has a big smile on its face. She has short blonde hair, which is held back with hair clips. She's wearing something that slightly resembles overalls. You also can't help but notice she has a large bust. In her small hands she's holding a pitchfork. Upon closer inspection, you realize all of the dolls have been hand painted. What amazing detail, you think.

Your attention moves to the next smallest doll in the line. You marvel at just how much it looks like Ivan. His doll is wearing the exact same trench coat and scarf that Ivan often has on. The doll also has the same piercing purple eyes as the real thing. A bright yellow sunflower has been painted in this doll's hands.

Your gaze shifts to the last, and smallest doll. Whoever painted these dolls sure did a good job capturing the essence of the person they're modeled after because this doll makes you shiver. Belarus's doll is wearing the exact same clothes as she was when she came to visit Ivan. She has the same scowl in her face as well. You shudder when you notice the knife that's been painted in her hands. Maybe her doll is a little too accurate.

"Do you ever miss them?" you ask Ivan when you finish examining the dolls.

"Da, I do. Even Natalya sometimes, but I usually regret that," he chuckles humorlessly.

He gives you a soft kiss near your temple, and returns to his notes. You think about what he said for a little while before sitting back down in your chair, and resume reading your book.

Another week goes by with you living at Ivan's house. There's a pretty decent layer of snow outside now, which is typical for the beginning of December. It's snowing when Ivan drives you to the hospital to get your stitches checked. You only have to wait 10 minutes before the doctor is ready to see you. You leave Ivan in the waiting room and follow a nurse to an examining room.

The doctor arrives a couple minutes after the nurse finishes doing a few simple checks on you, and writes the results down. He unwraps your hand and takes a close look.

"It seems to be healing just fine," he informs you. "I should be able to take the stitches out today."

The procedure was quick, and after it's over, the doctor leaves. The nurse returns and rewraps your hand. "You have to keep it clean and wrapped for another week. But after that you should be fine without anything on it." She finishes with your bandage. "You should be fine living on your own now too." She grabs her stuff and tells you goodbye before walking out the door.

You go back to the waiting room to meet up with Ivan. You tell him what the doctor and nurse said.

"That's wonderful news, sunflower," he says beaming. "I'm glad everything's okay."

"You're still not blaming yourself for this, are you?" You fold your arms and give him your best scolding look. "I told you, it's not your fault."

He gives you a sad smile. "I'm sorry, (y/n). I can't help it." Before you can respond, he quickly changes the subject. "We need to do something to celebrate you getting better."

"Like another date?" you ask hopefully.

Ivan just smiles and takes your hand to lead you out of the hospital.

The two of you return to Ivan's house late that night. You had decided to go see a movie together. It was an action thriller. You had seen previews on tv, and thought it didn't look too bad. The movie turned out to be really good, and you and Ivan had come out of the theater comparing your favorite fight scenes. Then Ivan drove you to a small ice cream shop. It's a pretty popular location for college students to hang out. It wasn't too crowded when you got there, so the two of you got your own booth. You ordered a hot fudge sundae, and Ivan got a plain vanilla cone. At one point you couldn't stop laughing because he had gotten ice cream on his nose.

Ivan unlocks the door, and the two of you walk into the dark house. You give Ivan a quick little kiss, then head off to your room to change. Once you're in some comfy pajama pants and t shirt, you walk into your bathroom and finish getting ready for bed. While you're finishing up, it dawns on you that your stay at Ivan's has come to an end. The nurse said you can go back to your house now.

You decide to go find Ivan so the two of you can hash out a plan. You can see a light coming from his room, and you check there first. You knock on the door and wait for an answer. No answer comes. You push open the door to peek inside. Maybe he just left the light on or something. You're greeted by the sight of Ivan in the process of taking his shirt off.

"I-I'm sorry!" you stammer out and look away. You can feel your cheeks burning. "I knocked but you didn't answer, so I thought the room was empty. I-I can come back later," you say about to leave.

Ivan throws the now completely removed shirt off to the side. "It's alright, (y/n). You can come in."

"Don't you need to finish, um...changing?"

He gives you a slightly playful look. "I always sleep like this."

"Oh," you say looking at what he's wearing. He has on a pair of dark blue pajama pants, and that's it. You try hard not to stare at his bare chest.

He sits on his bed, and motions for you to join him. "What brings you here so late, подсолнечник (sunflower)?"

You walk over to his bed and climb onto it. "Well I thought we should talk about me going home soon," you tell him as you sit down cross legged. "The nurse said I can go home now."

He turns and looks at you. "Do you want to go home?"

"Well," you begin not sure what to say. You've enjoyed staying here, but you're supposed to be taking care of your house too. "I have enjoyed myself a lot," you tell him. "But I also need to be taking care of my house. I'm paying the rent after all."

Ivan scoots further back on the bed to sit next to you. "I'll miss having you here (y/n)."

"I'll miss being here too."

He moves behind you and cradles you in his arms. He puts his head in the crook of your neck and breathes in your scent. "I have an idea, sunflower," he says against your neck.

You're having a hard time concentrating with Ivan nuzzling your neck. "Huh?"

Ivan gives a husky laugh, and turns you to face him. "Whatever am I going to do with you?" Before you can answer, he kisses you passionately.

It takes you by surprise, but you quickly relax in his arms. He reaches a hand up to cup your cheek. You place your hands on his well sculpted chest. It should be illegal to have such a hot body. Ivan pulls you closer so that you're sitting on his lap. Then he bites your bottom lip and growls suggestively. You part your lips for him, and feel his tongue swipe across them.

The two of you break for air, but quickly pick up where you left off. Your tongue and Ivan's have a battle for dominance, which he easily wins. You give his tongue a slight nip as it retreats back into his mouth. "So, what's your idea?"

Ivan trails kisses down your neck before answering, which gets a soft moan from you. "Our winter break starts this week, da?" You nod and wonder what he's getting at. "You should spend your break here, with me."

It all makes sense to you now. You break into a big grin. "Ivan, that's perfect!" you tell him excitedly. "I was planning on spending break in town anyway." You don't have the money to visit your parents over break. "We can celebrate Christmas together!"

"That is the plan," he says. He leans in and gives you a kiss that's gentler and sweeter than the one before. He runs his hand through your hair, and you let one hand slide down his chest to rest on his perfectly toned abs. You could get very used to this. Ivan breaks the kiss and looks at you with a new emotion in his eyes. "You're so beautiful, (y/n)."

This surprises you. You're wearing an old pair of pajamas, and you don't have any makeup on or anything. If he thinks you're pretty now, he must really mean it. "Thank you very much Mr. Knight," you say in a teasing way to try to cover up your embarrassment. "You're not so bad yourself," you say with a wink.

Ivan lets out a full hearted laugh. It's the first time you've heard him laugh like that, and it brings a smile to your face. "You never cease to amaze me, подсолнечник (sunflower)," he says when he finishes laughing. "It's one of the things I love about you."

You look at him stunned. Did he just say what you think he said?

"You're my very special sunflower, (y/n)." He places his forehead against yours. "You're very precious to me," says, voice dropping, so it's barely above a whisper.

You stare into his deep violet eyes, and recognize the emotion you see in them. Ivan looks into your eyes, and you're pretty sure he sees the same feelings in them as well. "I love you Ivan," you whisper softly, almost as if you're afraid saying it too loud will cause the man in front of you to disappear.

"Da, and I love you, подсолнечник (sunflower)." He kisses your forehead lovingly, and pulls you into a tight embrace. "I will be your knight," he promises, "as long as you'll let me."

You intend to, for a very long time.


	13. Chapter 13

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"Left," you tell Ivan. "Now a little to the right. No, left again."

Ivan and the Baltics struggle to move the large pine tree in the designated corner for it. You had waited until the last minute to put the Christmas tree up, so now it's Christmas Eve, and the five of you are running around trying to get everything set up. The four men working on the tree manage to secure the tree in the holder so it's straight.

You look at the tall tree, very impressed. You we're surprised that they could find such a large tree in such short notice. It probably cost a small fortune.

"Can we decorate it now?" Ravis asks excitedly. This is the happiest you've ever seen him. He always seems like such a nervous kid.

"Da," Ivan answers, putting a hand on Ravis's head. This causes him to start shaking nervously. "Would you like me to throw you to the top of the tree so you can put the star on?"

"N-no thank you, M-Mr. Russia."

Ivan chuckles. "I was only joking."

Suddenly you hear the timer go off from the kitchen. "The ham!" You and Toris take off for Ivan's kitchen to check on the food. The two of you have been designated the chefs for Christmas dinner.

When you return, you see most of the bottom half of the tree has been decorated with glass orbs, tinsel, lights, angel figurines, and a large amount of sunflower shaped ornaments.

"Mr. Russia, I suggest saving some of those for the rest of the tree too," Eduard says to Ivan. You notice Ivan has a box labeled 'подсолнухи', which you assume means sunflowers, that he's pulling ornaments out of and hanging on the tree.

"Not to worry Eduard," Ivan tells the blonde, who is nervously adjusting his glasses. "I have a whole second box."

Sure enough, he digs out another box full of sunflower ornaments from the pile of decorations. Estonia just stares at it with his mouth slightly ajar. He looks dumbfounded, and his eye twitches.

"M-Mr. Russia!" Ravis calls from his place on a ladder. It seems that he's the the poor soul that's been forced to climb the ladder to decorate the top half of the tree. "I can't get the lights any higher."

"Try using this, da?" Ivan pulls out his faucet pipe from seemingly nowhere, and holds it up to Latvia. Ravis stares at the pipe in horror. Eduard also tenses up at the appearance of the pipe.

You decide to step in before things get too uncomfortable. "Here, Ravis. Let me do it."

The shortest of the three Baltics scurries down from the ladder and joins Eduard on the opposite side of the tree. You climb up the ladder and begin wrapping the strand of lights around the tree. When you finish, you reach down for the star that Toris hands up to you. You didn't notice him come back from the kitchen until now.

"Be careful Miss (y/n)," he warns.

"How many times do I have to tell you guys that you don't have to call me 'Miss'?" you say as you climb to the top step of the ladder, and try to attach the star to the top of the tree.

You're still about a foot short, so you move to the very top of the ladder. You know that technically you shouldn't stand on that part, but what could happen? You lean toward the tree and just barely manage to set the star on top. You climb down the ladder halfway, and then jump off the other half into Ivan's waiting arms.

"Good job, sunflower."

"Thank you, Mr. Knight," you say back as he kisses your forehead. "Let's finish the rest of the tree."

The rest of the day goes by in a blur. The Baltics are also staying at Ivan's house during the break, so the five of you spent the rest of the day together. Dinner was served not long after the tree was finished, and afterwards everyone sat by the fire sipping eggnog. The rest of the evening was spent watching Christmas specials on tv while eating the large assortment of cookies, cakes, and pies you had baked. Ivan was the only one who touched the fruitcake.

Now you're laying in bed trying to sleep, and failing. You're not a kid anymore, but the excitement of Christmas is keeping you awake. It's been a long time since you've spent the holidays with a large group of people, and you've been enjoying yourself quite a bit. You roll over, but it doesn't help at all.

You decide to get up and see what Ivan's doing. You quietly tiptoe to his room, and open the door. It's dark in his room, so you try to close the door quietly as to not wake him.

"Where are you going, подсолнечник (sunflower)?"

You should've known he was still awake. You walk over to his bed, and he sits up slightly. "I can't sleep," you tell him. "I'm too excited."

Ivan chuckles and pulls his covers off for you. You slip into bed with him, and snuggle close to his bare chest. "You're a very silly girl," he whispers in your ear.

"I know."

"But that's why I love you." You get a thrill every time you hear him say it.

Your heart flutters in your chest as you say, "I love you too."

Ivan moves your face towards his and kisses you deeply. He rolls onto his back so that you're on top. He has his arms wrapped around you tightly to press your body to his. You feel his hand start to slide up your back, under your shirt. It comes to a stop in the middle of your back, but it's enough to make you giggle.

Ivan pokes your side experimentally, and you let out a louder giggle. "Is my sunflower ticklish?"

"No!" you deny between giggles.

Of course, Ivan doesn't believe you, and rolls over so he's on top. Then he starts tickling you, and you laugh uncontrollably. This goes on for a while, and ends with you on the floor still giggling, and Ivan watching you from the bed in amusement. Your only choice was to roll away from him and onto the floor.

Ivan gets out of bed and picks you up. He climbs into bed with you, and lays you down next to him. "You're never going to get to sleep if you keep rolling around like that," he tells you.

"It won't help that you're tickling me either," you say back.

Ivan pulls you close, and you both settle into the bed. "Goodnight, (y/n)."

"Goodnight Ivan."

You wake up the next morning and practically jump on top of Ivan. "Wake up! Wake up! It's morning!" You run downstairs and stare at all of the presents under the tree. Everyone had placed them there as soon as the tree was done.

The Baltics and Ivan join you in the next few moments. You and Ravis bounce around like excited children while the other three sit on the couch.

"Who gets to go first?" you ask excitedly.

"Give Ravis something so he stops dancing around like that," Eduard instructs you.

You pick up your gift to him and hand it to him. You got him a new winter hat. It's thick and fur lined, and has ear flaps that button to the sides when not used.

"Thanks (y/n)!" he says putting it on.

Soon all the gifts are passed out. You gave Eduard a new travel case for his laptop. He takes that thing everywhere he goes, so you know your gift would get used. You got Toris a set of earmuffs that plug into a music player. You thought it was pretty nifty when you bought it.

You hand Ivan his present last. It's the largest of all the packages under the tree. He opens it, and instantly his face lights up. "Oh (y/n). It's lovely, da?" Everyone crowds around to see what it is.

You had gotten him a large oil painting of sunflowers in the sunshine. You found it at a starving artist exhibition on campus. Many of the art majors had their work on display. You bought the painting from a Chinese student. Most of his paintings were of overly cute things, but he did have some good stuff there too.

"I'm glad you like it."

"This is for you," he says handing you a small box.

You accept his gift and begin to unwrap it. Then you open the box under the paper. You gasp when you see what Ivan got you. Inside the box lay a pair of soft brown leather gloves. It's such a light brown that it could almost be beige. You take the gloves out of the box to inspect them closely. They're made from a very high quality leather, and the inside is lined with the softest fur you've ever felt.

"They're for the gloves you had that got ruined," Ivan explains.

"They're beautiful." You put them on and admire them from every angle. "They're like yours." you say looking at the dark brown leather gloves poking out of Ivan's trench coat pocket. The coat is hanging on a coat stand near the door.

"That was the idea," he tells you with a smile.

You give him a quick kiss, and open the rest of your presents. Toris got you a new apron, with large pockets, to wear while you cook. Eduard gives you a cookbook full of foreign recipes. It takes you several minutes to calm down after you discover it has a whole section on Russian food. Lastly, Ravis got you a new case for your iPod.

"Mr. Russia helped me pick it out," he tells you. That explains why it's colored like the Russian flag.

Ivan hands you another box, and you look at him confused. "Why do I get another one?"

"This one is from Katyusha," he explains.

"But I didn't get her anything."

"Don't worry," Ivan reassures you, "I sent her something from all of us."

You take the box and open it. Inside are five smaller boxes. Each one has a name on it, so you hand them to their respective owners. The last box is the largest, and it has (y/n) on it. Everyone else opens their boxes to find them filled with Ukrainian candy and sweets. You open your larger package, and a long swath of soft material falls out. You pick it up and realize its a long, light pink scarf. You smile. You'll have to thank Ivan's sister.

"We'll match quite a bit this winter, da?" Ivan asks with a mouth full of candy. You laugh and nod in response.

Then you notice a small piece of paper on the floor where the scarf had fallen. You pick it up without drawing attention to it. You look at it closely, and see that it's a letter addressed to you.

Dear (y/n),

Thank you for making Brother so happy lately. He and I make sure to keep in touch while he's away, and he always talks about you. I hope you like your present. Wear it so you don't catch a cold. Merry Christmas!

~Ukraine

P.S: Brother's birthday is on the 30th. Please do something nice for him on behalf of me and Natalya. I know you'll come up with something wonderful.

You're grinning widely at this new information, and slip the letter in your pocket. You'll definitely have to thank Ivan's sister later.

The day of Ivan's birthday, you tell everyone to stay out of the kitchen. You threaten everyone with their lives. Apparently, Ravis didn't believe your threat because he sneaks into the kitchen anyway. You turn to face him with a rather large carving knife in your hand. He doesn't think twice before running out as fast as he can.

You stay in the kitchen for hours cooking like a maniac, but you enjoy yourself. You have music playing on your iPod with its new case in the pocket of your new apron while you read recipes out of your new book. The Baltics really did a good job shopping for you. You sway to the beat of the music as you prepare dish after dish.

You walk into the living room once you're done cooking, and you find the four men watching tv in the living room. They all look at you hopefully when you make your presence known.

"Dinner's ready in the dining room."

"Yes!" Ravis yells as he jumps out of his seat. "I'm starving." The others don't say anything, but they follow the curly haired blonde just as eagerly.

The appetizer is a warm borscht with rye bread. The recipe called for beef or pork broth, so you went with beef, and the traditional beet base. The bread was something the book recommended, so you went with it to be on the safe side.

The main dish is shashlyk, which is pretty much shish kabobs. There's an occasional piece of onion in between the chunks of beef on the steel skewers. On the side there's pirozhki. You decided to fill the pastries with sautéed mushrooms and onions. There's olivje salad, or Russian salad, on the side as well. It's a salad made with diced potatoes, peas, cucumbers, boiled eggs, and ham dressed with mayonnaise.

You also put out a green salad, a basket of rolls, and a pasta dish. Those are mostly for you because you're not sure how much of the Russian food you'll really like, or be able to even try, since the four guys start tearing into it as soon as you put it on the table.

"This is so good!" Ravis says with a mouth full of food. "Thanks (y/n)!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Eduard scolds. Then he turns to you. "But I agree with Ravis. The food is delicious."

"You'll make an amazing chef (y/n)!" Toris says excitedly. "I'd eat at your restaurant every day."

"Looks like your gifts came in quite handy," Ivan says to you with a glint in his eye. You can't help but think he had something to do with the gifts the Baltics got you.

"Well, I'm glad everyone likes it. I was worried it didn't turn out right."

Everyone reassures you that it's really good as they continue to scarf it down. There's nothing left when you finish eating. Eduard cleans his glasses in contentment while Toris and Ravis pat their full bellies. You get up and walk into the kitchen to grab dessert. You return with a very large, very beautiful cheesecake. Everyone's eyes go wide as they gauge how much more they'll be able to eat.

"I told you I'd make a cheesecake some time," you say to Ivan. "So now you have to tell me if its better than the one we had at the restaurant."

You serve up the cheesecake, and everyone starts forking it into their mouths. There's a pause as the four guys contemplate the taste of the dessert.

"I'm in heaven," Ravis says practically drooling.

The other two Baltics agree. You look to Ivan to see what he thinks since he's the only one, other than you, who tried the cheesecake that yours is competing with.

Ivan takes another bite and closes his eyes. The suspense is killing you. "Da, I imagine this is what happiness tastes like." He takes another bite. "I think you won, подсолнечник (sunflower)."

You walk over and give him a kiss. "Happy birthday Ivan."


	14. Chapter 14

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

The rest of break, including New Years, went by faster than you could've imagined. Next thing you know, classes have started again. Ivan and the Baltics help you move all of your stuff back to your house. Ivan had to shovel the walkway to the front door before you could even start moving stuff back inside.

The inside of the house has gotten really dusty, so after everything's put away, the five of you do a thorough cleaning of the house. The Baltics leave afterwards because they have to get set up at their own places before lectures tomorrow. Ivan stays to help you go through your fridge. A lot of stuff has gone bad, so you decide to toss out everything and give the thing a good scrubbing to get rid of the smell of rotting food.

Once that's finished, you and Ivan walk to the store to buy more food. The two of you walk gloved hand in gloved hand with your scarves fluttering behind you.

Now that break is over, all of your classes decide to kick it into high gear. You're practically buried under all the work you have to do for school along with actual work. There's murmurings of the dreaded 6 letter word floating around campus already. Finals. Several of your classes have given you the topic for your final essay. A lot of students will put this off, but you know that the sooner you start the better. Writings never been your strong suit.

A few months pass in this craziness of classes and work. You still have found time to spend with Ivan and your friends. You've gone on two more dates with Ivan. The first, he took you ice skating at a frozen pond a little ways out of town. You've never really been skating before, but Ivan did his best to keep you from falling. Afterwards you went back to his house for hot chocolate. The second date consisted of pranking Alfred. The two of you built a snowman on his front porch, and then sent him a text.

It read:

Hey Alfred! Ive been standing in front of your house 4 like 3 hours open the door

You and Ivan hid behind a car parked in the street, and witnessed Alfred opening the door excitedly. Then he dropped in a dead faint when he saw the snowman and thought you had frozen over. On top of that, Arthur came to the door and started yelling at Alfred thinking he's the one who built the snowman on the porch. You were still laughing when Ivan took you out to get lunch.

Now it's the beginning of March, and you can't wait for spring break. You've received a letter from your parents containing a sizable check, and in the letter they tell you to buy plane tickets for you and Ivan to visit them over break. Yes, you and Ivan. You've been telling your parents all about him since you went on your first date, and so now they want to meet him.

Ivan took the news pretty well too. You were afraid he would freak out and not want to go. He actually seemed excited to meet your parents. Spring break starts tomorrow, so that's when you're leaving. You figured you'd get the most out of your break. You text Ivan one last time before going to bed to make sure everything's set. He responds back that, yes he is packed, and yes he knows what time to pick you up tomorrow for the airport. You tell him goodnight, and snuggle down into your bed for some sleep.

Ivan picks you up the next morning to drive you both to the airport. The two of you check your luggage in, go through security, and get breakfast, before your flight leaves. The flight itself wasn't that long, but you manage to fall asleep on Ivan's shoulder. You wake up to him poking your arm.

"Wake up подсолнечник (sunflower). We've landed."

After you get off the plane, the two of you find the luggage claim, and pick up your bags. You then make your way to the main doors of the airport because that's where your parents said they'd meet you.

"You'll like them," you tell Ivan. "They're pretty nice."

"If they're at all like you, I'm not worried," Ivan says a little nervously. "I am more worried about them liking me."

Before you can reply, you see your parents waving at you by the doors. You drop your bags and run to them. It's been a long time since you've seen your parents since you've always been so torn about coming back to your hometown. Money has also been an issue too. Part of the reason you did actually come back this time is because you brought your knight and protector with you.

"Mom! Dad! I've missed you so much!"

"We've missed you too, dear," your mom says as you hug her. "Is that him?" she asks in a whisper when she sees Ivan approaching with both his, and your luggage.

You nod quickly. "I'd like you guys to meet Ivan. He's, uh...you know, my boyfriend." You've always had trouble telling people outright that you and Ivan are dating.

"Nice to meet you, son," your dad says as he shakes Ivan's hand. "You better be taking good care of my little girl."

"Da, it's nice to meet you too, sir," Ivan says in reply. "I hope that I am taking good care of (y/n), but that's for her to say, not me."

"Well said," your dad says impressed. "Couldn't have said it better myself. You found a good one," he says to you.

"Dad!" you complain rolling your eyes. "Don't put Ivan through the third degree okay? Be nice." Then in a softer tone you add, "But I agree Ivan is quite the catch."

"As are you, подсолнечник (sunflower)," Ivan says, and he kisses your forehead. Your parents' eyes go wide. You're not sure if it's from the Russian or the kiss.

The four of you load everything in the car, and drive to the house you grew up in. You point out different things to Ivan as you drive past them, and your mom chimes in here and there too. You've probably never been this excited about being home before. Everything is just better with the violet eyed man.

Your parents help you two carry everything to the house. The weather is warmer here than it was at campus, so you take off your light jacket right away. You and your mom take your bags to your small room on the ground floor. Your dad and Ivan take his stuff to the basement where a spare bed has been set up.

"So what do you think of Ivan?" you ask your mom a little nervously.

"He seems very nice," she says setting your bag down. "It's obvious he really likes you."

"He's wonderful, mom," you tell her with a big smile. "He's my knight." You explain as much of the story, of how you two met and started dating, as you can.

"He's done all of that for you?" she asks awestruck. You nod silently. "Don't let him go, you hear me?"

"Don't worry mom, I don't plan on it," you say thinking of Ivan. "I love him too much."

Your mom gives you a tight hug. "You've grown up so much."

"Hey! Lets go get dinner!" you hear your dad shout as he comes walking up the stairs. "Us big boys are hungry." You and your mom laugh and join the two men.

The four of you go to a nice sit down place for dinner. You fill your parents in on what you've been up to at school. Ivan answers all of your parents questions, and even tells some stories about Russia. At one point you're talking and using hand gestures. This makes the scar on your left hand very obvious.

"Oh, honey," your mom says interrupting you. "Is that the cut you told us about?" She reaches out and takes your hand in hers for a closer look. "Will you still be able to cook alright?"

"It doesn't bother me, mom," you reassure her. "It just looks bad."

"We very grateful that you've taken such good care of our daughter," your mom says to Ivan. "We worry so much since she's so far away." You can see the guilt in Ivan's face at this praise, and you hope your parents can't. He still blames himself for your hand.

"So what is it you want to do after college, Ivan?" your dad asks, changing the subject. You let out a silent sigh of relief. The last thing you want to do is explain to your parents that Ivan has a crazy sister.

The rest of the dinner goes by smoothly. Ivan and your dad seem to get along really well, which is a relief to you. Things are going better than you could've hoped. The next couple of days are of the best you've had in a while. Ivan and your dad do some 'male bonding', which means they go golfing and shooting. Your dad is very proud of his gun collection, and didn't hesitate showing them to Ivan. Ivan surprised even you when he knew a lot about many of your dad's guns.

While they run around doing 'guy things', as your dad puts it, you and your mom stay home and cook. She's the one who inspired your love of cooking as a child. She admires the apron and cookbook, that you got from the two older Baltics, for Christmas. Your parents had apologized for not getting you anything during the holidays. Part of the money they gave you to buy the plane tickets had been your late Christmas gift.

One day you, and your mom, are cooking while your dad and Ivan watch basketball in the living room. You look in the fridge for more butter, but you can't find any.

"Hey mom, I think we're out of butter."

"Oh dear, I think you're right," she says. "Maybe you and Ivan can go to the store and get some more," she suggests with a smile. "You can show him around a bit."

"Alright," you say taking off your apron, "I'll get some more eggs and sugar too. I noticed we're getting low."

"Thanks sweetheart."

You walk into the living room. "Ivan! We need to make a trip to the store," you tell him.

"Alright, sunflower." He gets up and follows you to the door.

"Get some chips too!" your dad calls. "There's another game after this!"

The two of you walk to the store hand in hand. You point out a park you used to play at with some of the neighborhood kids. You say hello to an elderly lady that lives by your old middle school. She used to greet you everyday as you walked to school. You don't say much when you pass the high school, and Ivan doesn't ask for any details.

The high school isn't far from the store, so you arrive soon after passing it. You walk inside the familiar building, and walk to the dairy cooler for butter. As you pick up the other items you've been asked to get, you tell Ivan funny stories about working at the store. Once, an old man had started throwing pies on the floor because his coupon was no longer valid. Ivan laughs along with you when you tell him. People give him an odd look because his laugh sounds like 'kolkolkol', but you don't care. He's your knight, and you love him.

You and Ivan stand looking at chips, and debate which kind to get. You finally decide to get both the barbecue and sour cream and cheddar, when you're approached by someone.

"(Y/n)? Hey, it is you!" You turn around to face the man that addressed you. "I haven't seen you since high school!"

"Oh, um...hi," you say nervously. You have a hard time looking him in the eyes. He's one of the people who used to bully you.

"Where have you been this whole time?" he asks taking a step closer to you.

"Um...I've been going to college. It's not around here." Ivan notices your distress, and narrows his eyes at your former bully. He doesn't trust him one bit.

"So you're here for break? Cool! Me too. Why don't you ditch this guy and hang out with me?" He takes another step closer and tries to pull you away from Ivan.

"Ah, no...um, I can't..." you try to protest, but to no avail.

Ivan puts his hand on the bully's arm. "I suggest you leave (y/n) alone."

"What if I don't?" The bully sneers in his face. "What are you gonna do about it, freak."

You notice the dark aura start to appear around Ivan. His faucet pipe appears out of no where, and Ivan starts laughing darkly. "Kolkolkolkolkol. Я собираюсь испортить Вас (I'm gonna mess you up)." He points the pipe at the bullies face. "Unless you get out of here by the time I count to 10." The bully is frozen in shock. "один, два."

Ivan only has to count to 2 before the bully scurries away like a frightened dog. You stand there shaking like a leaf. You never imagined anything like this would happen. A single tear rolls down your cheek. Ivan's pipe is gone, and the dark purple aura surrounding him fades. He turns to you, and concern colors his gaze.

"Are you alright, подсолнечник (sunflower)?" he asks taking your hand.

You turn to look at him, but you don't say anything. You thought it was over. You thought people would leave you alone now.

"(Y/n), I need you to listen to me," Ivan says in a calm voice. His calm is contagious because it makes you feel calmer too. "He's gone now. I won't let him touch you again."

"I-Ivan," you say faintly. You reach out and hug him tightly. "I'm glad you're here."

"Da, me too подсолнечник (sunflower)."

"Let's go home, Mr. Knight," you say softly.

The rest of your spring break goes by without incident. You don't run into anyone else from high school, but you can tell Ivan is protective of you whenever you go out in public. Your mother also notices and asks you about it.

"We ran into someone from high school," you tell her. "One of those people."

She immediately knows what you mean. Your parents found out what was happening to you from one of your school counselors, and they had helped you get through the bullying. "Oh no! What happened?"

You smile slightly, which confuses your mother. "Ivan," you say simply.

Now your mom understands, and smiles as well. "He's definitely a keeper."

Finally the day arrives for you and Ivan to go home. You say goodbye to your parents. Your mom hugs each of you, and wishes you a safe flight. Your dad gives you a hug, and Ivan a firm handshake.

"Come back anytime, son."

The two of you wave back at them after you get through security, then walk to your gate. The flight back is as uneventful as the first flight there. This time Ivan nods off.

"Sunflower," he murmurs in his sleep. You give him a soft kiss on the forehead. The elderly lady in the seat next to you literally says aww out loud.

After getting off the plane, the two of you make your way to the baggage claim, then to Ivan's car. It's been sitting in one of the parking lot buildings this whole time. He drives both of you back to your city, and stops at your house first. He helps you unload your stuff, and carry it inside.

"It's been a pleasure meeting your parents, (y/n)," he says pulling you close.

"I'm glad you could come Ivan," you say and stand on your tiptoes for a kiss. He bends his head down and touches his soft lips to yours.

"I'll see you later," he says when he breaks away. "Classes start again tomorrow."

"Ugh, finals are coming up," you say wrinkling your face in distaste.

"You'll do fine, подсолнечник (sunflower)," he reassures you. He reluctantly lets you go to walk out the door. "I love you."

"Love you too," you tell him as he opens the door and steps out. Then you turn around and prepare yourself for the unpacking you have ahead of you.


	15. Chapter 15

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Your focus for the next few months is on getting ready for finals. You work on essays like crazy, occasionally pulling an all nighter just to get it done. The only time you really see Ivan is when he walks you to classes or when he helps you study. He's just as busy as you, so it's hard to find free time.

You breathe a sigh of relief when the last essay is written, and another when you finish your last exam. This year of college is finally over, and you have a whole summer ahead to spend with Ivan. You're not going to think about school for the next three months.

You spend that evening at Gilbert's house for a party he's having. Naturally, you bring Ivan with you. The two of you share a laugh when you think about the last time you went to a party with Ivan. It's one of the things that made you fall for him.

There are people all over Gilbert's house. People are dancing to the loud music inside, and others splash around in the pool outside. You say a quick hello to Feli before he's dragged into pool by some bikini clad girls. He doesn't look like he minds though. You see the Bad Touch Trio moving from crowd to crowd as they talk, flirt, and joke with people they know. Elizabeta is with them, and she has linked arms with Gilbert.

"Hey (y/n)!" Gilbert greets when he and his group walk by you. "Ivan," he greets the Russian with a nod. "Glad you two could make it."

"We wouldn't miss one of your parties," you tell him with a smile. Then you give Elizabeta a hug. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I know!" she says excitedly. "I've missed you." Francis joins the two of you as you squeal in excitement, and have one of those girl moments.

"I'll never really understand girls," Gilbert says as he watches the three of you. "And Francis is just as bad."

"Da," Ivan says agreeing with the albino.

You say bye to Elizabeta and Francis, and walk back to Ivan. You two decide to get some food first. If the last party had a lot of food, this party blows that one out of the water. There's literally a buffet table in Gilbert's kitchen. There's anything you can imagine on it, from burgers to a three tier cake. Speaking of burgers, you hear a familiar shouting coming your way.

"(Y/n)! Ivan! Dudes!" Alfred yells as he pushes through the crowd toward you. "Hey guys! How's it hanging?"

"We're doing fine Alfred. How are you?" you ask. His excitement is contagious, and you can't help but smile with him.

"Great!" he answers. "There's so much freaking food here!" he says eyeing the buffet table. "Not to mention all the people."

Ivan shows up behind you with two plates of food. You hadn't even realized he had left. "Here sunflower," he says handing you a plate.

You take the plate filled with some of your favorite foods. Ivan knows you so well. "Thanks Ivan."

"Aww man, I gotta get some of that food before you two eat it all," America jokes. "Those burgers have my name on them!" he shouts as he takes off toward the buffet table.

"You have very interesting friends," Ivan tells you when you sit down to eat.

"Yes, so you've told me," you say teasing. You give him a quick kiss before digging into your plate. "This is so good!"

You and Ivan eat in silence for a while. "Would you like to spend the summer with them?" he asks you suddenly.

"Who? My friends?" He nods. "Well, yes, I would. But I also want to spend time with you." This causes him to smile.

"I have something I want to ask you," Ivan says looking at you intently. "My friend who owns the house I am staying in also owns a beach house a few hours from here." You nod to show you're listening. "It's a very large beach house," he continues, "and I was wondering if you would like to stay there this summer."

"You're inviting me to spend the summer, at a beach house, with you?" you ask him in shock. "Really?"

"Da," Ivan answers. "You can invite as many friends as you want as well. It's a very large house."

"Are you bringing the Baltics?" He nods. "Who is this friend of yours anyway? He or she must be rich."

"His name is General Winter," Ivan tells you. "He spends most of his time in Russia though. He comes here very rarely."

You spend the rest of the party planning with Ivan, eating, dancing, and trying to avoid the BTT after they threatened to throw you in the pool. It was a great party overall.

The next day you start to call people up and invite them to join you and Ivan on your trip this summer. You also call Germany and ask if you can have the summer off.

"You want the whole summer off?" Ludwig asks confused. "Are you going somewhere."

"Yeah. I'm going to stay at a beach house with some friends this summer, but don't worry, I'll be back when we come back for school."

There's silence on the line as Ludwig thinks. "Alright," he says finally, "I'll give you the summer off, but you better come back!"

"Thank you Germany!" you say excitedly. "Don't worry about anything! Oh, and Alfred, Feliciano, and Arthur might ask for the summer off too," you add.

"What? (Y/n)! You're stealing all of my employees!"

"Please Germany! This is a once in a lifetime chance."

There's a longer silence this time as Ludwig thinks. "Fine," he says and sighs. "You're lucky we hire extra people in the summer."

"You're the best!" you tell him before hanging up.

This is going to be the best summer ever.

Everyone meets early in the morning a few days later at Ivan's house. Ivan has a car, and so does Arthur and Gilbert, so those are filled with everyone's bags and gear. Arthur's car has several surf boards strapped to the top as well.

You ride in the front seat of Ivan's car with him, and the Baltics in the back. Arthur drives his car with Alfred in the front and Lili, Vash, and Canada in the back. Vash wouldn't let Lili go unless he could come along. You weren't thrilled, but you really wanted Lili to come, so that's why Switzerland is here too. Lastly, Gilbert drives his car with Elizabeta in the front, and the rest of the BTT plus Feli in the back. Ivan leads the group across miles of highways to the beach house.

The whole drive takes 5 hours, and by the time it's done, Arthur's ready to kill someone and Francis has creeped on everyone in Gilbert's car. Everyone stretches gratefully when they finally get out of their respective cars.

"Never again," Arthur growls as he walks toward the trunk of his car to begin unloading it. It seems Alfred was singing to the radio almost the entire time.

You walk around to the back of Ivan's car, and help him unload the trunk. You reach inside and pull out a stack of flattened paper lanterns.

"What are these for?"

Ivan looks up from the luggage to see what you're talking about. "You'll see подсолнечник (sunflower)," is all he tells you.

By then everyone has also gotten their things out, and are looking at the gigantic beach house if front of them. It's three stories tall, and covered in curly grape vines that sway in the gentle ocean breeze. You can see balconies coming off the second and third floor, and all the windows have planters bursting with flowers.

"Awesome," Gilbert says in awe.

"Veeeee~!" Feli breathes. "It's like a fairy tale house."

"Look Bruder (brother)!" Lili says to Switzerland excitedly. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Ja, Schwester (sister)," Switzerland says, looking impressed. "Wait until I show that pompous piano player Austria where I stayed this summer," he mumbles to himself.

"The top two floors are all the bedrooms," Ivan explains as everyone heads inside the house. "There is a bathroom attached to each one, so everything is very private, da?"

You end up sharing a room with Elizabeta. Ivan and Arthur share another, and Lili shares a room with her brother. These three rooms are on the second floor. The BTT and the Baltics share another two rooms upstairs, and Alfred, Feli, and Matthew share the last.

Ivan, Arthur, and Vash, decide to man the grill for a cookout tonight. The Baltics, Matthew, and the BTT decide to go grocery shopping to fill the empty fridge in the large kitchen. You had nearly fainted when you saw it. Natural light streams in from big glass doors next to the kitchen, which leads out to the beach. A small window in the corner, over the sink, opens wide to let in the salty sea air, which quickly fills the beautiful kitchen.

You help make a list of things the shopping group needs to get, while Lili and Elizabeta try to set up a large table on the covered deck. Alfred and Feli have locked themselves in their room, and are probably playing the video games Alfred brought.

Everyone stays busy for the next few hours. You and the other girls help put away the groceries when that group returns, and then that group helps set up stuff around the house. The house hasn't been used in years, so there's plenty to do.

Elizabeta leads a group, consisting of Alfred and Feli, who finally came out of their room, Gilbert, Francis, and Matthew. They visit each room of the house. They clean, and remove sheets from pieces of furniture. Everything in the house has a fine coat of dust on it, so they do their best to get rid of that too. They also make sure to stock all the bathrooms with toilet paper and towels.

You lead a second group, consisting of the Baltics and Antonio, to work on the outside of the house. The footpaths around the house have become overgrown with roots and vines, so your group gets to work cutting the vegetation away. You don't want anyone to trip and hurt themselves. Your group also works on controlling the grape vines that have grown over some of the windows on the house.

Lili leads the last group, which consists of the guys in the grilling group. They help her clean off the deck and set out the large table since she and Elizabeta couldn't move it earlier. The men do the heavy lifting while little Lili directs them. They also get the grill prepped and ready to go.

Finally, the house is comfortable to live in for the summer. The 'grill team', as they have been dubbed, grill up burgers, hotdogs, and two racks of ribs. Everyone is starving from working so hard, and they eat everything that's been set out by you, Toris, Feli, and Francis. You suspect the four of you will be doing a lot of the cooking this summer.

Some people decide to go to the beach after dinner. The sun is setting over the horizon and sets the ocean ablaze. Others decide to go into town and do some exploring. You join the beach group with Ivan.

"It's beautiful," you breathe. The sun slowly slips below the horizon, and takes the fire in the sky with it.

"Da, I've always liked coming here," Ivan agrees.

"How often have you been here before?" you ask looking up at him.

"Only once," he admits. "It was with my sisters. We came here on vacation. It was a magical week."

"Magical?"

"Da, that's the only way I can describe it," he says with a smile. "This place is magic." He stops to think, and then adds, "But only if you're here with people you care for."

You look at your friends on the beach. Matthew and Arthur are piling sand on top of Alfred, Toris and Eduard are laughing happily, and Ravis and Lili are looking at seashells while Vash watches. You look back at Ivan with glittering eyes. "I think I came here with the right people."

He leans in and gives you a sweet, lingering kiss. "I think so too, sunflower."


	16. Chapter 16

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Top on everyone's list of priorities, is finding a job. You're going to be here all summer, so it's important to make money while you are. No one in the group is really rich either. Luckily everyone manages to get a job within the first few weeks. It's tourist season, and almost every business is hiring extra help.

Alfred gets a job at the local McDonald's. It didn't come as a surprise to anyone. The BTT and Elizabeta get a job waiting tables at a classy café. Lili, Vash, and Matthew get a job together at a cute little ice cream parlor. The Baltics find jobs working at the library, much to Eduard's delight. Both you and Arthur get cashiering jobs at a grocery store, which is something you're very comfortable with. Feli gets a job at a flower store.

Everyone thinks they just want him to use as a smiley poster boy. Last, Ivan manages to find a construction site to work on. He comes home after work all sweaty, and often shirtless, but you don't mind one bit. You like walking to the site some days and eating lunch with him.

Everyone is enjoying themselves immensely. The beach is by far the best part. Alfred can be seen riding waves every morning on his red, white, and blue surfboard. He's offered to teach people to surf with his spare board, so you and Elizabeta take him up on his offer. You and Elizabeta get pretty good at it, but Gilbert's has the real hidden talent.

"I. Am. Awesome!" he yells as he catches a huge wave. "Woooooooohoooooooo!" He jumps off the board into the water. "Bow to the King of Awesome Waves!" he says to you and Elizabeta after he swims back to shore with his board.

"As if," Elizabeta replies, but then places a kiss in his wet hair. The two of them walk away together.

"Hello, подсолнечник (sunflower)."

You turn in surprise. "Ivan!" You jump up excitedly and give him a hug. "What's going on?"

"I'm going to work now," he tells you and gives you a kiss. "But, later tonight I have a surprise for you."

"Really?"

"Yes, so I will see tonight sunflower." He kisses you again, and this time it's deeper.

He breaks the kiss and walks away. You wave to him as he goes. You look back to the beach and wonder what you should do for the rest of the day.

"Hey, (y/n)!" Feli yells as he runs up the beach. "Come play with me and Matthew!"

You walk in his direction and notice a partially built sandcastle. "Need help with that?"

"Yes, if you don't mind," Matthew says quietly from behind the castle.

The three of you spend the morning working on the castle. By the time you're done, Feli is buried in sand from his neck down, and Matthew is laughing so hard there's tears streaming down his face. The poor castle never got finished because Feli kept knocking something down.

You excuse yourself to go deliver Ivan his lunch. You've made him a tuna sandwich and some deviled eggs. You also pack some chips and carrots. On the way out the door, you grab a red sports drink for him as well. Ivan really likes the red ones for whatever reason.

It doesn't take you long to walk to the construction site. Your sundress ripples in the breeze as you walk. It's such a nice day out. The weather hasn't been bad since you've gotten here. Ivan had been right about it being a magical place. You can't imagine anywhere more beautiful.

You wave to Ivan who is working on the roof of the building being built. He's got his shirt off, and he has a heavy looking tool belt around his waist, over his shorts. You blush slightly when he waves back. He's so hot you could die, but that would mean no more Ivan, so being alive is probably for the best.

"Hello подсолнечник (sunflower)," Ivan says when he gets down from the building. "What's for lunch today?"

"A tuna sandwich and deviled eggs," you tell him as you hand him his lunch and drink.

"Sounds wonderful."

The two of you sit down on some concrete pipes, and you tell Ivan about what you've been up to this morning while he eats. You're about to tell him about Italy getting buried in the sand when a man approaches you. He has long brown hair that curls here and there. There's two very noticeable curls coming off the top of his head.

"Hey Russia," he says in a mellow voice. "Is this the girl you were telling us about?" He lets out a yawn after speaking.

"(Y/n), this is Greece. He's one of my fellow crew mates," Ivan explains to you.

"It's nice to meet you," you say politely.

"She's just as cute as you said Russia," Greece says in a sleepy voice. He doesn't respond to you at all, but his comment makes you blush. "I better get back before Turkey starts yelling."

You watch him as he slowly walks away. "Is he always like that?"

"More or less," Ivan says and drains his drink. "I need to get back to work, sunflower. But thank you for visiting me." He places a kiss on your forehead. "I'll see you tonight for that surprise."

"Oh! That's right!" You had completely forgotten. "I'll see you later Mr. Knight," you say playfully.

You walk back to the beach house trying to come up with a plan for the afternoon. You're not working today, but Arthur is, so maybe you'll pop by the store and pick up a few things. You'll say hi to Arthur too. You walk to the store and look around for a while. The fridge is getting low on milk and eggs, so you make sure to pick up some of that. You also grab some snacks and lemonade. After you find everything else, you go to the checkout and look for Arthur.

"Hey Iggy!"

"(Y/n)," he says slightly surprised. "Picking up food for everyone?"

"Yup," you say with a smile. "Thought I'd stop and say hi too."

"Oh, thanks, but don't call me Iggy. It's Arthur!" he says with a huff.

You laugh and roll your eyes. "Whatever you say, Arthur." You put extra emphasis on his name.

You pay for everything with your own cash. You'll reimburse yourself later out of the grocery jar. Everyone puts money in a large jar, and whoever buys the groceries can use the money in the jar for it. You leave the store after a quick goodbye to Arthur. You have quite a lot of stuff, but you manage to get home just fine.

Once at home, you put everything away and look for something to do. You see Lili and Ravis outside laughing over something. It's cute to watch them together. They're the two youngest here, and they've become good friends because of it. You also see Francis and Antonio laying on towels in the sand talking. You decide to see what they're up to.

"Hey guys!" you say to the two men. "What are you doing?"

"Ah, (y/n)!" Francis coos. "Come sit with us. We're just enjoying the weather."

"Gilbert and Lizzie are working, so we thought we'd just sit out here and catch some rays," Antonio explains.

You look at Francis who is sitting in the shade. "Why aren't you in the sun then?" you ask him.

"It's better for your skin to absorb indirect sunlight, ma chérie. It's better for those of us with a delicate complexion."

"What he really means," Antonio clarifies, "is that he's so pálido (white) that if he sits in the sun he'll burn." Then in a mock whisper he adds, "He turns so red that I have to call him Señor Tomate."

"Don't tell her that Toni!" Francis yells. "Vous êtes horribles (you're horrible)!"

You can't hold back your laughter as the two start wrestling in the sand. Toni is also laughing his head off, but Francis is so mad he looks like he could bite someone's head off.

"Señore Tomate!"

"Souffle de tomates (tomato breath)!"

"Violador (rapist)!"

"Imbécile!"

"Repugnante (ugly)!"

The two continue to roll in the sand and shout insults at each other until they're both worn out. You can't stop laughing at how ridiculous they look. They watch you laugh at them until they start laughing too.

"We must look silly acting like children," Francis says after the laughing stops.

"It can't be hard when you're only as smart as one, amigo," Antonio tells him.

"You want to fight some more?" Francis says through clenched teeth.

"Is that what that was? I thought you were trying to tickle me to death," Toni says, taunting him.

The two argue back and forth like that all afternoon. You watch the whole thing very amused. The two of them have a kind of love/hate relationship, but they always end up on good terms. Although, France did get sunburn, much to Antonio's amusement.

The three of you return to the house in time for dinner. Ivan, Feli, and Eduard made pizza with a special recipe of Feli's. He loves pizza almost as much as pasta. Everyone talks and eats until the sun goes down. Ivan comes up with the idea for a bonfire on the beach.

"Yeah! That's awesome!" Prussia agrees.

"Dude! That's the best idea I've heard yet!" Alfred says. "The next best would be that Arthur shouldn't be allowed in the kitchen."

"What was that, you git?" Arthur asks turning to America. "You got something to say about my cooking?"

"Let's all go outside to get started," you say quickly to try to avoid a confrontation between the two brothers.

You send a grateful look at Francis when he puts his arm around the two and leads them toward the beach. "Now now, mes frères (my brothers), let's all have fun here. We're on vacation!"

"Fine," Arthur mumbles. "Just don't get all cuddly with me, frog."

Everyone gathers on the beach to prepare for the fire. The Baltics work on digging a pit in the sand while everyone else looks for drift wood. Most people come back with a few decent sized logs. Gilbert finds a gigantic limb further down the beach that he and the rest of the BTT drag to the pit.

"Does anyone have a hatchet?" Eduard asks. No one does.

"I'll just use this," Ivan says. He holds up his faucet pipe.

The Baltics watch from a safe distance as Ivan cuts, or in this case smashes, the large piece of wood into smaller chunks. Everyone else watches closely in fascination. Soon, a large fire is crackling in the pit. Feli produces a bag of marshmallows, and everyone begins to roast them.

"Have you ever roasted Starbursts?" Elizabeta asks you. You shake your head. "It's pretty good," she says and pops a cooked marshmallow in her mouth.

The stars begin to appear in the night sky by the hundreds. You've never seen this many stars in your life. You see a bright band of stars going across the darkness of the night.

"That's the Milky Way," Ivan explains to you when you ask. "You can only see it when you're far from the cities."

You snuggle closer to him and continue to watch the stars. "This place really is magic," you tell him.

"That reminds me. Wait here," Ivan says and gets up. He walks back toward the house.

You watch him for another moment, then look back up at the sky. The twinkling stars are mesmerizing. You hardly notice when Ivan returns.

"Here подсолнечник (sunflower)," Ivan says as he hands you a paper lantern and a tiny candle. "Everyone can come get one," he says.

"What is it for?" you ask him for the second time since you got here.

"When I was young we used to make these and let them float away in the wind. It was always winter when we did, so we didn't have to worry about burning anything down," he says with a smile. "You make a wish on it and let it go. The lantern will carry your wish to the heavens, and it will come true."

By now, everyone has a lantern set up with a lit candle in it. There's a moment of silence as everyone makes their wish.

"On three," Ivan instructs softly.

"One," Alfred says in a calm, yet happy voice.

"Zwei," Gilbert says as he pulls Elizabeta closer.

"Tre," Feli whispers. "Ve~."

The lanterns catch the ocean breeze, and begin to float out over the ocean as they rise. They dip and bob as they fly away like a swarm of fireflies. Everyone watches their lanterns float further and further away. You feel a little sad when the lights fade, the lanterns too far away to see. Ivan pulls you close to him and kisses you right above the ear.

"This place really is magic," you tell him for the second time.

"What did you wish for, sunflower?" he asks in a whisper.

"Won't my wish not come true if I tell you?"

"It is magic here, remember? Silly rules like that don't apply to wishes made here."

"Oh, okay. Well, I wished that I could be with you forever," you whisper.

Ivan doesn't say anything, but he tightens his hold on you. You look over and see Gilbert and Elizabeta also snuggling together. You wonder what they wished for. It's probably not that different from what you did. You turn and kiss Ivan right on the lips, and hope with all your heart that your wish comes true.


	17. Chapter 17

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Time flies by as you and your friends enjoy your summer. You go to the beach everyday, whether it's in the morning before work or in the evening after. Ivan takes you to some of the more scenic places in the area. The two of you take pictures and share many kisses together. Sometimes you do both at the same time.

With friends, work, the beach, and Ivan, you find yourself with two weeks of your summer left. The reality hits you when you're outside picking grapes off the vines creeping up the house. After the initial shock, you start to feel sad. This has been the best summer of your life, and now it has to end.

"Guys, we have a problem," you say walking into the house. Everyone is eating breakfast when you enter.

"What's wrong (y/n)?" Arthur asks with concern in his face.

"Ooooh, (y/n) has grapes!" Feli says excitedly. "Veeee~."

"Feli!" you say exasperated. "I'm being serious." You hand him the grapes anyway. It might keep him quiet.

"So what's the problem?" Toris asks.

"We only have two weeks left of our summer!" you exclaim. The mood in the room quickly dampens. Several people let out a sigh.

"Don't remind us, ma chérie," Francis says as he leans back in his chair, an arm over his eyes.

"Yeah dude!" Alfred says with a scowl. "I don't want to think about that."

"Well my point," you say, starting to lose your patience, "is that we need to do something amazing before summer's over."

"Yeah! Something awesome!" Gilbert yells jumping up.

"What should we do?" Ravis asks.

"Eat pasta," Feliciano suggests with a dreamy look.

"Go to a museum," Eduard suggests as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Meet some señoritas and hit the club," Toni says.

"None of those things sound like the kind of thing that ends your summer with a bang," you tell them.

Matthew leans over and whispers something to Lili, who then whispers to Vash, who nods in reply. "Um..." Lili begins to say. Everyone turns to look at the petite girl. "Well, Matthew reminded me of a poster we have at work." Some people do a double take when they notice Matthew for the first time. "There's an amusement part that's open for just this week not far from here."

"That sounds great!" Elizabeta shouts.

"Da, I agree." Ivan chimes in. There's murmurs of agreement from everyone in the room.

"Then it's settled," you say with a smile.

A few days later, all 15 of you arrive at the amusement park, which is a few hours from the house. The park is one of those places that's only open in the summer for a short time, but they sure went all out.

The whole place is bursting with people. A large section of the park is taken up by rides of all kinds. There are smaller ones for younger kids, and also some larger ones that tower into the sky for everyone else. On the other side of the park, there are different vendor stalls and game booths set up for people to look at and enjoy. A few of the paths that wind through the park are lined on both sides with nothing but food stalls. Almost everyone has quit their jobs by now, so they can enjoy what's left of the summer, but they still have enough cash to spend on this.

"This place is awesome!" Gilbert yells. "I'm going on the roller coaster first!" He grabs Elizabeta's hand and runs off, the rest of the Bad Touch Trio hot on their heels.

"See ya dudes! I'm getting some food!" Alfred yells over his shoulder. He walks toward a cluster of food vendors, and Feli follows.

"Brother and I are going to look at those stalls," Lili tells you. "We'll see you later." You wave to them as they walk away.

"I wanna go on some rides!" Ravis exclaims. "Please!" He looks at Toris and Eduard.

"It's up to Mr. Russia," Eduard tells him. The three look over at Ivan nervously.

"Go on," he says, and laughs when they all scurry away. "Those three are so funny."

"So what do you want to do?" you ask him.

"Whatever you want," he answers. Ivan pulls you closer and leaves a trail of kisses down your neck.

"Eh hem," comes a nervous cough from behind you. You turn suddenly to see Arthur and Matthew still standing there.

"Oh! A-Arthur...I, uh...didn't see you there," you stammer out embarrassed.

"Obviously," he says, trying to act natural. A dark blush rises to your cheeks, but Ivan doesn't release his hold on you. "We'll be on our way then." He and Matthew head over to the food stands, presumably to look for Alfred.

"That was so embarrassing," you say to Ivan after Arthur is out of earshot.

"Don't worry подсолнечник (sunflower)," Ivan reassures you. "We're here to have fun, da?"

He takes your hand and leads you to the rides. The two of you go on some of the larger rides that spin, flip, and turn at high speeds. You scream along with the rest of the people on the rides, and Ivan laughs through most of them. You're about to get in line for another ride when your stomach lets out a loud growl.

"Time for food," you announce, but you can't help feel a little embarrassed.

You drag Ivan to the nearest group of food stands, and look at your different options. There's cheese fries, hotdogs, roasted corn, pizza, Chinese chicken, corn dogs, deep fried candy bars, hamburgers, turkey legs, and a whole lot more.

"I'm leaning towards a burger and cheese fries," you tell Ivan.

"I think I'll have the Chinese."

You each get what you want, and Ivan gets a large cup of lemonade. You surprise him with a powdered sugar covered funnel cake. The two of you find Alfred and Feli sitting at a table, and join them. They have a large stack of empty cups and food wrappers piled up all around them.

"Hey dudes!" Alfred greets as he munches on a turkey leg.

"(Y/n)!" Feli says to you excitedly. "Are you having fun, ve~?"

You and Ivan sit with the two until you finish all of your food. You end up covered with powdered sugar because Feliciano accidentally tips over the plate, that at on point contained the funnel cake, on you. You retaliate by wiping your powdered sugar covered fingers on his face. The four of you laugh and chat for a little while before you excuse yourself and Ivan. There's more of the park you want to see yet.

The two of you walk through the groups crowded stalls. They sell things from t shirts, to herbal teas, to caricature sketches. You're busy looking at earrings at a jewelry vendor when Ivan taps you on the shoulder. When you turn, he holds up a sunflower patterned sundress that he has apparently just purchased.

"Now you can look like a sunflower," he says as he hands the dress to you.

"Oh, wow." You admire the dress's simple, yet elegant design. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, sunflower." He plants a kiss above your ear. "Let's go look around some more."

From the vendors, Ivan leads you to a large stage. There's a local band playing at the moment, and they're not too bad. You sing along to the songs you know, and sway to the rest. The last song they play is a slow dance, and several couples start dancing together near the stage.

"May I?" Ivan asks.

He offers you his large hand, and you take it with a smile. He places his other hand on your waist, and you place yours on his broad shoulder. Ivan expertly spins you around a few times before stepping to the beat. You've never really danced like this before, but you do your best to keep up. That's when you notice that a few of the couples really look like they know what they're doing. They swirl around to the beat and pull a few fancy moves. Ivan notices you watching that.

"Would you like to dance like that?" he asks.

"Oh, I wouldn't have any idea how," you reply.

Ivan stops dancing. "Here, stand on my feet."

You carefully stand on his large feet. It's a good thing yours aren't that big. Ivan begins to gracefully move the two of you across the ground. Even with your additional weight, he moves as smoothly as he did before. Now all eyes are on the two of you. As the song ends, he lifts you up and spins you around. Then he holds you close with his arms around your waist, so your feet are still off the ground. For once, you have to lean down to kiss him, which earns a cheer from the crowd.

"He really is a gentleman," Arthur says softly to himself as he watches the two of you laughing. He's been watching the whole time.

It's starting to grow dark out, and many of the rides have turned their lights on. You look out across the park and notice the ferris wheel glowing in the distance. Excitedly, you drag Ivan all the way there. The line has grown longer than it was earlier, so the two of you have to wait a while. By the time you get on, it's completely dark out. The wheel does quite a few rotations, and you squeal every time you go around. Soon the wheel stops as people are being let off. Right as you reach the top, fireworks blossom across the sky.

"They're beautiful," you say awestruck. You turn to look at Ivan with a huge smile on your face.

"Da," he agrees, and turns to you. You can see the light of the fireworks reflecting off his violet eyes. He leans in and kisses you gently. "I love you, sunflower."

"I love you too, Mr. Knight."

The ride moves to let the next group off. Finally, the two of you make it off the ride. You feel your phone vibrate, and find that you have several texts from different members of your group. All of them tell you to meet back at the cars. You quickly meet up with everyone. They're all tired out and ready to leave. You load up the cars, and begin the drive back to the house.

The remainder of your summer is spent getting ready to go back to school. The house is cleaned from top to bottom, and the outdoor furniture is put away. Everyone makes last minute checks and changes to their school schedules, so that they have everything ready for when classes start. The plan is to get back a week before school so everyone can get settled.

Finally, the day to leave arrives. The sheets are put back on the furniture, and the fridge is emptied and cleaned. All the garbages are emptied as well. A final check is done on all the rooms before the doors are locked. Everyone loads their gear into their respective cars.

Ivan leads the way again as your caravan drives back to your college town. You stop twice for bathroom breaks and food. By mid afternoon, the three cars pull into Ivan's driveway. Everyone gets out to say their goodbyes to each other.

Ravis says goodbye to Lili, and blushes a deep red when she gives him a hug. Elizabeta gives you a big hug, and her phone number, as she tells you to keep in touch. Arthur gives Ivan a handshake, and tells him he's not a bad guy. That makes you smile. Alfred yells goodbyes as Arthur's car pulls out of the driveway to take his passengers home. Feli blows kisses out the window as Gilbert pulls his car out too. That just leaves you, Ivan, and the Baltics.

Ivan drives the Baltics to their apartment building, and helps them with their luggage. They all live in the same building, but Eduard has his own apartment while the other two share. That leaves you as the last one needing to be dropped off. Ivan drives to your house, and carries your bags inside for you.

"It seems like we just did this," you tell him with a small laugh.

"Da," he replies. "Did you enjoy your summer?"

"Yes!" you say happily. "It was magical, just like you said."

Ivan cups your face with his hand and gives you a long kiss. "It's because we were there together подсолнечник (sunflower)."

You kiss him again lightly before saying anything back. "Let's always do everything together."

"Da, okay," he says as he brushes your hair away from your face. "I need to go now, but I'll call you soon."

You reflect on your summer as you say goodbye to Ivan. You've never had so much fun in your life, and you got to spend so much time with your friends. You carry your bags upstairs to your room, and unzip the first one. A handful of photographs lay on top of all of your stuff. You pick them up, and see they're pictures of you and Ivan. He really is the best thing in your life. He was the real magic in your summer.


	18. Chapter 18

Please do not freak out after reading this chapter. Just trust me.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

All good things eventually have to come to an end. School starts in a blink of an eye, and things get really crazy. If you thought you were busy last year, then you're twice as busy this year. On top of work and classes, you're expected to do a certain amount of hours apprenticing at a local restaurant. It's one of those requirements for getting your degree.

The head chef at the restaurant your doing your apprenticeship at is a short Asian man. He's young for a chef, but he acts like an old man. He's proper, formal, and not very talkative.

"Call me Honda-san," he tells you when you first meet. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Honda-san is an excellent chef. His restaurant doesn't serve Asian food, but that doesn't mean the food is mediocre. You've learned a lot from him in the two weeks you've been apprenticing under him, but he can also be a little odd sometimes.

"When a customer gives me advise for my food I always say 'I'll think about it' or 'Perhaps next time,'" Honda-san explains. "All of which means no."

You sweat drop when you hear that. He tries to be tactical, but it seems rude when you know the truth.

"Never let a suggestion change your cooking," he instructs. "Your opinion is the one that counts the most. Unless your food really is that bad," he adds.

You love the time you spend at the restaurant, but it stresses you out at the same time. It also makes it difficult to spend time with Ivan. He still walks you to some of your classes, but he's just as busy as you interning with a business manager. Despite that fact, he still manages to do the sweetest things. One day you came home from a long shift at work to find a vase full of sunflowers on your dining room table. There's no note, but there's no mistaking who it's from.

You decide to surprise Ivan with a visit the next day. The two of you exchanged house keys, so you can pop in whenever you want. It's really quiet when you walk into his house, and it is starting to get to you. You don't find him in the living room, kitchen, or his bedroom. Then you can hear some kind of shouting coming from outside. You hurry to the back door, and find Toris and Eduard standing there looking terrified.

"What's going on? Where's Ivan?" you ask the two.

"O-out t-there," Toris stutters out.

"What's he doing?" You're starting to get scared. The two Baltics don't say anything, and that's when you realize there are only two Baltics here.

"Where's Ravis?" you ask, even though you have an idea what the answer is.

Eduard doesn't say anything, but he points outside.

Without another word, you burst out the door. You see Ivan with his hand on the smallest Baltic's head. Ravis is shaking uncontrollably, and tears are coming down his face. Ivan looks calm, but there's a threatening glint in his purple eyes.

"What makes you think it is okay to skip out on our meetings to visit a girl?" Ivan growls to the younger boy.

"I-I-I...I d-don't...I-I..." Ravis sputters out. He's too terrified to explain himself.

"This is the third time in two weeks you've showed up late." An insane look starts to form on Ivan's face. His faucet pipe appears in his hand. "I'm going to have to teach you a lesson."

"N-no, I-I-I'm s-sorry," Ravis says, too frightened to say much else. "P-please...M-Mr. R-R-Russia..." Ivan smiles cruely, and his dark aura appears.

"Ivan! No! Leave him alone!" you shout and dash in front of Ravis. "You can't do this Ivan, he's your friend," you plead which your arms out to shield the smaller person.

"Move (y/n). This isn't your business," Ivan says. You begin to shake when you hear the menace in his voice.

"N-no," you tell him with a shake of your head. "Just calm down Ivan."

"Move!" he commands in a loud voice. You flinch at the harshness in his voice.

"No."

His eyes darken in anger. Ivan raises the pipe in preparation to strike. You close your eyes, but don't back down. Minutes pass, but the blow doesn't come. You open your eyes slowly, and gasp at what you see. Toris and Eduard are holding Ivan back. Each of them have their arms wrapped around one of Ivan's.

"P-please Mr. Russia," Toris pleads. "Look, it's (y/n)!"

Ivan struggles against the two men with a crazy look in his eyes. You wrap your arms around the shaking Ravis, but it doesn't comfort him. Your body shakes just as uncontrollably as his. You've seen this side of Ivan before, but it's never been directed at you. Ivan continues to try to break out of Eduard and Toris's grip.

"Let me go you insignificant little bugs!" Ivan growls. "They will pay for their defiance. нам не нужны дети, которые не могут играть хорошо (we don't want kids who can't play nice)."

"Stop Mr. Russia!" Eduard yells. Ivan knocks him back with his arm, then turns and kicks Toris in the stomach. Both men drop to the ground.

Ivan takes a step toward you. You move Ravis behind you, away from the deranged Russian. "You cannot defy Russia and be allowed to live." From the look in his crazed eyes, you can tell he doesn't recognize you at all.

"I-Ivan, it's me," you tell him desperately. "Look at me! It's (y/n)." You take a step in his direction. "It's me."

You slowly close the gap between the two of you. When you reach him, you wrap your arms around him tightly. He doesn't react to your touch at all. You hold onto him until he takes a step back from you. You don't get a chance to react because something hard and cold crashes into your shoulder.

"(Y/n)!" Ravis shouts from behind you.

You shout out in pain as you fall to the ground. Your arm hangs limply at your side when you try to get up. The pain causing you to winch as you stand. The two older Baltics have gotten back up and are holding Ivan's arms again.

"You think you can stop me?" Ivan asks, his voice cruel. "I can't wait to see the looks on your faces when you beg for mercy."

He throws Lithuania to the ground, and gives him several hard kicks to the abdomen. Then he punches Eduard in the face with his free arm. Eduard's glasses shatter, and the sharp pieces cut his face as he falls to the ground for a second time. Ivan's hand is also bleeding from the shards of glass now embedded in his knuckles.

He turns back to you with a sick smile on his face. He doesn't even seem to notice his hand is dripping with blood. A ominous laughter starts to fill the air around Ivan. It's unmistakably his. The dark 'kolkolkol' echos off the house and surrounds you with maniacal laughter.

Tears form in the corners of your eyes and begin to spill onto your cheeks. "Ivan," you say softly, "don't you recognize me?"

Ivan continues to laugh as he approaches you. He swings his pipe so fast that you can't react. It makes contact with your side, and you go crashing into the ground again. You scream in pain. Ivan kicks you in the back before you can stand up. This makes you roll a few times, and you come to a stop lying on your back. You gasp for air as the tears flow freely from your eyes. Ivan crouches down next to you with a crazy grin on his face.

"No one can stand up to the great Russia." He grasps your neck with his free hand, and begins to apply pressure. You struggle for every breath as Ivan cuts off your air. Your hands claw at his with no effect.

You begin to grow light headed from the lack of air. This is the end. "Ivan," you rasp out with the last of your air. "I love you." Then you black out.

When you come to, you're lying on your bed. Confusion clouds your head as you sit up. You immediately feel dizzy and have to lay back down. The events of the last hour flash through your mind. Your hand flies up to your neck, and you wince. There's going to be bruises later. You also lightly poke your shoulder and side. A gasp escapes your mouth as pain flares across your body. Several tears squeeze out of your closed eyes.

You gain your composure after a few minutes. You force yourself out of bed and walk down the stairs.

"(Y/n)!" Ravis shouts in surprise.

The three Baltics are sitting in your living room. The mood in the room is similar to that of one at a funeral, or a hospital room. You notice the older two look as beat up as you, but Latvia looks unscathed.

Toris stands up with a hiss. He clutches his side where Ivan kicked him earlier. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright, but how are you and Eduard?" you ask concerned.

"We're fine," Eduard answers. He has a few bandages on his face where his glasses had cut the skin. The spectacles are nowhere to be seen.

"We're so sorry you had to get involved," Toris says in a low voice. "It's usually not that bad."

"I'm so sorry!" Ravis wails as he breaks into tears. "It's all my fault!"

You slowly make your way over to the curly haired blonde, and wrap your arms around him.

"It's okay. There's no need to cry." You wipe away a few of his tears.

"I-I went to visit Lili," he says. "I'm so busy with school that the only time I can see her is before our business meetings." He begins to hiccup, and you patiently wait for him to stop so be can finish his story. "I didn't mean to be late, but Lili is so kind and pretty and..." Ravis starts sobbing again. "I'm so sorry."

"We're all sorry," Eduard says to you. "We should've done more..."

"No, it's alright," you insist. "I'm just glad everyone made it out okay." You clutch your side in pain. The strain of talking seems to be too much for you. The Baltics look at you concerned. "What happened to Ivan?"

Eduard and Toris look at each other uncomfortably. "Whatever you said to him made him stop going berserk," Toris explains to you. "Usually we lock him in a room until he's settled down, but you managed to snap him out of it."

"I'm glad," you say softly. You don't blame Ivan for his behavior. He can't help that he's had a rough childhood. It makes your bullying look like a walk in the park. "I'm glad he's okay. Where is he?"

"About that," Toris says uncomfortably. "He...well, he's not here."

Eduard stands up and puts a hand on Toris's shoulder. "What he means to say, is that Mr. Russia feels terribly guilty about what happened." He points to something on the table. "He instructed is to give you that before locking himself in his room."

You walk to the table carefully, so you don't irritate your injuries. On the table is a piece of paper and a key. You begin to read the letter Ivan left for you.

Dear (y/n),

I'm so very sorry for what I've done. I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am. I've realized now that it's better if I'm not around. I'm too dangerous of a person, and I can't keep you safe. First there was Natalya, and now me. It's better if we don't see each other anymore. I'm so sorry, sunflower. I've given the Baltics the key to your house so that they can return it to you. I wish I could've been the kind of man you deserve after everything you've been through. I love you sunflower, but I can't risk your safety any longer. Please forgive me.

Yours, Ivan

The letter falls to the ground just a moment before you do. The pain in your shoulder and side are nothing compared to the pain in your heart. The tears silently fall from your eyes, and you can't imagine them ever stopping.


	19. Chapter 19

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Every day brings a new pain. It takes time to get used to Ivan not being there to pick you up after a class. You do your best not to think about it too much, but it's never far from your mind. Once, you follow a complete stranger because he's wearing a trench coat. Your sanity is slowly unraveling.

"Excuse me, (y/n)-san," Honda-san says to you one night when you're at his restaurant. "You don't seem to be your usual self. Is something the matter?"

You don't say anything to him, but tears start leaking from your eyes.

Honda-san debates whether he should refrain from talking, but he decides this isn't one of those times. "Why don't you go home? I'll still accept your unfinished hours." He places a hand on your shoulder, then quickly walks away.

Your apprenticeship isn't the only place where your performance suffers. You find it hard to focus at work, and your smiles to your customers become less and less genuine. It's hard to pretend to be happy when your life is falling apart. Arthur is the only one, besides Ludwig, that seems to notice anything.

"(Y/n), what's wrong, love?" He almost never used pet names, so you can tell he's really worried.

"It's nothing," you mumble. You know you don't sound at all convincing.

"Don't even pretend nothing's wrong. Ludwig asked me to find out what's going on. We're worried about you, (y/n)." Arthur crosses his arms and looks at you with worry.

"Ivan...broke up with me..." you say softly. You can't stop the tears from falling, and you wipe them away quickly before anyone can notice.

"Oh (y/n)," he says in gentle voice. He walks to your register and gives you a hug. He holds you quietly until you stop crying. You explain what happened between sobs. "You need to get him back."

"What?" You look up at him confused.

"You need to get him back," Arthur repeats. "You obviously made him happy. There's no way he can just dump you and run. Go after him. Show him that he means a lot to you too. You can't give up now (y/n)."

You look at Arthur with a blank expression that is soon replaced by determination. You can't give up on Ivan yet. You love him.

"My shift is ending," Arthur murmurs. He leans in and gives you a quick peck on a tear stained cheek. "Think about what I said."

You raise a hand to brush the spot Arthur's lips had touched. Could it be possible Arthur had liked you this whole time? It must have been painful to watch you so happy with Ivan when he wanted to be with you instead. He really is the best gentleman you know.

It takes you a whole week to steel up enough nerve to go to Ivan's house. Each time you try, you manage to talk yourself out of it. Today you don't have any excuse left why you shouldn't see him. You have to prove that your love is more important than anything.

You're about to knock on Ivan's door when it swings open. You step inside and gape at what you see. The house is a complete mess. Books and paper lay littered across the floor, and rustle faintly when the wind blows through the open doorway. A layer of dirt and dust has collected on everything in the living room. You walk across the scattered debris on the floor toward the fireplace. The little Ivan doll has been knocked to the floor, so you pick it up and put it back in its place. What had happened here?

You walk through the house to find most of the rooms in a similar condition. Broken glass, chunks of furniture, dirt, and dead leaves cover the floors of each room. The eerie silence in the house gives everything a creepy feel. The feel is completed by the shredded curtains blocking out the sunlight from filtering in through the windows.

The last room you check is Ivan's. The doorknob doesn't budge when you try to turn it. You hear a gruff voice from inside the room. Ivan must be in there. You try the knob again, but it won't open. You pound on the door, and even try kicking it down, but nothing works. Finally you find something that looks like a broken table leg and work on breaking the doorknob off the door.

After a few minutes of pounding, you get the door open. Ivan's room looks twice as bad as any of the others. Ripped open pillows and feathers cover the floor with a layer of fluffy down. There are empty bottles all over the floor as well. You pick one up and look at it closely. Vodka. You stare in shock at the number of bottles that litter the floor. It can't be healthy for anyone to drink that much alcohol. Some of the bottles have been smashed, so shards of glass crunch under your shoes occasionally as you move across the room. The bed looks like it's been torn apart by an animal. Stuffing and springs stick out of it like entrails.

Suddenly, your foot bumps into something metal on the floor. You move some feathers and stuffing out of the way to reveal Ivan's faucet pipe. Slowly, you bend down and pick it up. It's covered in little scratches and dents, and also what appears to be flecks of dried blood.

"Don't touch that," a hollow voice says from the corner. You whip around to see Ivan sitting in the corner with a bottle of vodka in his hands. "Don't touch it," he repeats, "Something that evil should not be in the hands of someone so pure."

"Ivan," you say in a quiet voice. You're not sure if you should be afraid of him right now or not.

"You shouldn't be here подсолнечник (sunflower)." He drinks what's left in the bottle in his hand. It rolls out of his hand as he lets it drop limply to the floor.

"You shouldn't be drinking," you say in a stronger voice. He seems to be himself, or at least mostly himself.

He chuckles darkly. "I had quit drinking before leaving Russia. I used to drink vodka every day and every night for a long, long time. Alcohol has no effect on me, you see." He doesn't make eye contact as he talks, and his voice sounds hollow and emotionless. "You shouldn't be here."

"I can't leave you Ivan."

"That is a mistake you will regret!" he growls as he stands up to face you. You clutch the faucet pipe in your hands tighter and pull it back in a swinging position. "You think you can hit me with that?" There's a hint of amusement in his voice.

You lower your arms and drop the pipe to the floor. Ivan had called your bluff. "Why have you been avoiding me?"

"For your own good sunflower," Ivan says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "There are better people out there for you."

"No there's not!" you insist. "You're the only one for me."

"Do not be so blind (y/n). There are many that can make you happy. Take that boy you work with for instance," he says as he picks up his pipe.

"Arthur?" you ask in confusion. "You think Arthur could make me happier than you could?"

"He could keep you safer," Ivan says matter of factly.

"You can keep my safe! You're my knight!"

Before you can react, Ivan grabs your arm in his free hand and pulls your shirt sleeve back from your shoulder. The two of you look at the fading bruise Ivan left there several weeks ago. "Would a knight do that?"

You jerk away from him. "It doesn't matter! I love you!"

"You can't love a monster like me," Ivan says quietly and sits back on the floor, tossing his pipe aside. He leans his head against the wall and closes his eyes. "I'm supposed to be alone my entire life. That's my destiny."

"Then change it!" you snap. He opens his eyes and looks at you upon hearing the intensity in your voice. "Make your destiny whatever you want it to be! Fight for what you want, not what the world shoves your way!"

"It's not that easy, (y/n)."

"No one said it would be!" You remember what Arthur said to you earlier that week. "You can't give up. I'm here because I love you, and I need you with me!" Tears begin to stream down your face. "I need you. I can't do this without you." You drop to your knees in front of Ivan. "You helped me when I was broken. I need you. Please."

Ivan watches you cry in front of him. His violet eyes cloud over with pain. He lets out a sigh. "Don't cry подсолнечник (sunflower). Please don't cry." He moves next to you and wraps his arms around you. "Shhhhhhh. It's alright. I'm not going anywhere."

"You promise?" you say and hiccup.

"Yes sunflower. I promise." Ivan leans his forehead against your shoulder. Your breath hitches when he touches your bruise, but you don't move away. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay-"

"It's not okay!" he snaps. He raises his head to look you in the eyes. "How can you forgive me so easily?"

You place a hand on his cheek, and he leans into your touch. Gently, you plant a kiss on his lips. "Because it wasn't your fault," you say when you pull away. "Its not your fault people forced you to become something you don't want to be. And, because I love you."

Ivan pulls your face to his and kisses you in a way he's never done before. It's hungry and needy. His arms hold you to him tightly. The two of you move your lips in sync as the kiss continues. Ivan's hands roam across your body like he's trying to memorize every part of you. He presses you down onto your back without breaking the kiss. After a few more moments of heated kissing, Ivan pauses. He pulls you up off the floor and positions you in his lap. You straddle his waist as he kisses you again.

"I'm so sorry (y/n), for hurting you," Ivan's says when you pause for air.

"It's okay Ivan," you tell him and brush your hand over your injured shoulder. "I'll heal."

"No, I mean I'm sorry I hurt you here." He places his hand over your heart. "I'm supposed to protect your heart, not break it."

You place your hand over his. "As long as you can fix it, that's all that matters."

"Sunflower," he whispers and pulls you into a hug. He buries his face in your neck. "I love you. I love you. I love you."

You patiently wait for Ivan to stop. He continues to say that he loves you for a long time. He only stops when he falls asleep in your arms. You decide to wait for him to wake up since he's too heavy for you to lift. You also don't want to leave him just yet. A tattered blanket catches your eye, and you use it to cover the sleeping Ivan.

He sleeps for a full half hour before waking up with a start. "(Y/n)!" he says as he sits up in a hurry." He's not facing you, but you watch as he lowers his head into his hands. "It was another dream," he murmurs with pain in his voice.

You scoot across the floor to him and wrap your arms around him. He tenses at your touch, and you kiss his ear.

Ivan turns and looks you straight in the eyes. "(Y/n)," he says in awe. "You're here. You're really here... I thought it was a dream."

"I'm here, and I'll always be here," you tell him with a small smile. "Now let's get you cleaned up."


	20. Chapter 20

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The first thing you make Ivan do is take a shower and brush his teeth. The smell of vodka on him is starting to make you nauseous. While he's in the shower you begin to clean up a little in his room. You pick up the larger pieces of debris and pile it in a corner. Anything salvageable gets placed on a section of Ivan's bed that isn't torn up. Then you spot Ivan's faucet pipe. You have a little trouble working up the nerve to pick it up, but you brace yourself, and bend down.

The metal is cold and smooth in your hand. You expected some kind of aura or feeling to come off of it, but nothing happens. If anything, you feel a sense of sadness coming from the pipe. You look at it closely. The poor thing has as many scars as Ivan's heart must have. You lay the pipe on the bed carefully. Some people might think of it as a weapon of destruction, but you see it as a shield of a hurt child. Ivan lashes out to protect himself.

"подсолнечник (sunflower)," Ivan breathes in your ear.

You turn around quickly to face the violet eyed man. You hadn't heard him walk in, which is quite the feat since the floor has broken glass all over it. He hugs you tightly.

"Ivan," you whisper as you bury your head in his chest. "I missed you." That's when you notice he doesn't have a shirt on. "Ivan! Put some clothes on!"

He starts laughing, and laughing, and laughing. His 'kolkolkol' fills the room, but it's not terrifying like the last time you heard it. "After everything that happened, you're worried about what I'm wearing?" Ivan kisses you lovingly. "That's why I love you sunflower."

He leans his forehead against yours. His hair is wet and dripping all over the place, but you don't care. "C'mon, let's get you properly dressed. Then we can start cleaning up."

You go to Ivan's house everyday to help him clean up. Sometimes the Baltics are there too. They're so happy to see you and Ivan back together. With everyone's help, the house is cleaned in a week. Well, the dirt and debris is gone, but the broken furniture still needs to be replaced.

"I'll do all of that later," Ivan tells you when you finally finish cleaning. "I need to let General Winter know what's happened."

"Won't he be upset?" you ask concerned.

"No. This wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened," Ivan says with an embarrassed scratch to the back of his head.

"Oh," you say, unsure what else you should say. "Well, don't forget Gilbert is having a Halloween party in two weeks, and we need to work on our costumes."

"Alright (y/n)," Ivan says and places a kiss on your forehead. "You should get going now. You don't want to be late for your apprenticeship."

Things slowly fall back into place in your life. Everyone notices your sudden change in demeanor. They were all worried when you had stopped smiling all the time. You had explained to some of them what happened, but not others. You left out the part where you got hurt, though, because people might blow it out of proportion.

"I'm glad you're okay now," Elizabeta had said. "It was no fun listening to Gilbert complain about how 'un-awesome' you were acting."

Both you and Ivan work on costumes for the next couple weeks. Actually, it's more like you work on it while Ivan nods disinterestedly. You do most of the work on it, and that means you can dress Ivan up as anything you want.

You arrive at Ivan's house before the party at Gilbert's. You let yourself in and walk to Ivan's room. He's sitting on his bed and taking notes from a business book. He doesn't even look up when you walk into his room. No one else just barges right in like you do.

"I brought the costumes!" you announce excitedly.

"Hmm," Ivan grunts without looking up.

You drop the bags with the costumes next to the bed and place your hand over his book. "Come on Ivan! We gotta get ready for the party."

Ivan stands up and wraps his arms around you. "Can't we just stay home? Just the two of us?" He begins to cover your face and neck with kisses.

"Ivan!" you complain with a laugh. "Stop it! We only have an hour to get ready."

Ivan holds you to him tightly and rests his chin on your shoulder. "Alright подсолнечник (sunflower). If we must."

You jump out of his arms excitedly. "Yay! Here's your costume," you say as you press one of the bags into his hands. "I'll be changing in the bathroom!"

You rush out the door before Ivan can respond. After you close the bathroom door, you pull out the different parts of your costume. You strip down to your underwear and slip into a cute white dress. The top of the dress is black with white lace and looks like a corset. The skirt part is all white and flares out. It has several layers of material under it to keep it poofed out. You slip simple black flats onto your feet. Then you tie a red cloak with a hood around your neck. You curl your hair as fast as you can, and manage not to burn yourself or your hair. The costume is finished with red lipstick and lipgloss, and a touch up of your eye makeup. You take one last look before going back to Ivan's room.

"Oh my gosh," you gasp when you see him. "You're hot!"

Ivan looks away in embarrassment. He's wearing his heavy boots under a pair of baggy, ripped jeans. A furry brown tail pokes through a slit in the seat of the pants, and has been sewn into place. All he's wearing on top is an unzipped black hoodie, and it shows off his muscled chest and abs. Last, on top of his head he's wearing furry brown wolf ears that match his tail.

"I feel very silly (y/n). What am I supposed to be?"

"The Big Bad Wolf," you tell him with a grin. "And I'm Little Red Riding Hood."

Ivan looks at you for the first time. "You look amazing, sunflower." He stares at you with a hungry grin on his face. "I think I could eat you up."

You laugh. "That's the point!"

He walks up to you and pulls you to his bare chest, which causes you to blush. "Are you lost little one?" he says in a growl.

"Yes, Mr. Wolf. Do you think you can help me?" You stand on your tiptoes to give him a light kiss. "I'm taking these to my grandmother." You point to a basket full of sunflowers you brought with the consumes.

Ivan licks off the lipgloss that you left on his lips. "You taste good sunflower," he says in a suggestive way. He snaps his teeth not far from your nose.

That's when you notice the time. "We have to go, Ivan!" You grab his hand, and your basket of sunflowers, and hurry out the door.

The two of you arrive at Gilbert's house a little late, but not late enough to really notice. Instead of the usual pop music blasting through the house, there's spookier sounding Halloween music floating through the air. It's still peppy enough for people to dance to though. Ghosts, ghouls, and monsters of all shapes roam around Prussia's house.

As you walk into the house, you notice what the food situation is like. There are two tall chocolate fountains set up on the two ends of a long table. One circulates dark chocolate while the other has white. There's a plethora of things to dip into the liquid happiness. There's pretzels, cookies, gummy worms, marshmallows, strawberries, and more. The center of the table is covered in bowls of candy. Some contain mixtures of different candy, like what you'd fill a piñata with. Others are full of just one kind. You grab a small handful of M&Ms and pop them in your mouth.

"Ciao (y/n)!" Feli says from the other side of the table. "Look what Alfred showed me how to do." He unwraps a miniature candy bar and carefully skewers it on a pretzel. Then he dips his makeshift chocolate lollipop in the white chocolate fountain. He waits for it to harden slightly before dipping it into the dark chocolate fountain. You look on in disgust as he eats the entire thing in one bite. The only way he could've made that any more unhealthy would be to deep fry it.

"You're gonna get sick Feli," you tell him.

"But it's so good!" He begins to skewer another candy bar. "Veee~."

"Just don't make a mess on your dress," you say shaking your head. Feli is wearing a green cleaning girl's dress for a costume.

"Don't worry (y/n)! I'll keep an eye on him!" An excited Alfred joins Feliciano at the table and begins to skewer a piece of candy himself. He's wearing a cowboy costume, and his hat is hanging down his back by a string tied around his neck.

You and Ivan quickly leave the food table before your arteries begin to clot from watching them eat. The two of you receive a lot of compliments on your costumes. You even notice some girls eying up Ivan, but he doesn't seem to notice.

"Those girls keep looking at you," you tell him a little miffed.

"Why should I care подсолнечник (sunflower)? The only one I need looking at me is you." He pulls you in for a kiss. This makes the staring girls upset, and they storm off. Ivan licks more lipgloss off his lips. "You really do taste good маленький красный (little red one)."

You don't get a chance to respond because you're tackled from behind. "Oh my goodness (y/n)!" Elizabeta shrieks. "The two of you look so freaking cute I could die!"

"Thanks Elizabeta," you manage to get out. She's squeezing you so tight it's hard to breathe. "You look great too."

"You think so?" Her eyes sparkle at the compliment. "Thanks!" She's wearing the most adorable witch costume you've ever seen. It's sewn in such a way to make it sexy, but not too revealing. The sleeves are made to look tattered and come a little past her elbows. The black dress comes down to her knees and also looks tattered. She's wearing tight black boots with tall heels. Her outfit is completed by a black witch hat on her head that contrasts the fair color of her hair.

"Kesesesese! Look who finally showed up." Gilbert saunters over wearing a unique costume. He's wearing black boots over tight, white pants. He has on a white tunic with a black cross on the front. On top of that he has on a white cloak with another black cross. A sword is strapped to the black belt around his tunic.

"What are you supposed to be?" you ask in confusion. You've never seen anything like it.

"I'm an awesome Teutonic Knight!" Gilbert proudly declares. "My job is to vanquish evil like you!" he says to Elizabeta. He drops her in a dip, then kisses her deeply. "Kesesesese! Vanquished by the awesome me."

You talk with the two of them for a while before they go look for Francis and Antonio. "Enjoy the party!" Elizabeta calls over her shoulder as they walk away.

"What an odd costume," you say to Ivan as the two of them walk away. "We could've made you a knight, huh?"

"It doesn't matter what I look like on the outside. I'll always be your knight." He nips your neck playfully, then kisses it in the same spot.

"Hey! Don't eat Little Red Riding Hood!" a voice warns from behind you. "She's on her way to grandma's, you know."

The two of you turn around to see Arthur in a pirate costume. A really good pirate costume. Not a cheap plastic eyepatch and hook kind of costume, but a swashbuckling captains hat with feathers kind of costume.

"You look amazing," you gasp.

Arthur has on a long red coat over a frilly white shirt. The shirt has frills that come out the coat's sleeves. He has tan pants tucked into dirty black boots that thunk heavily on the floor as he walks. Many of his fingers have rings on them with sparkling jewels set in them. He even has that hat that was mentioned earlier.

"You're like a real pirate!" you say in amazement.

"Uh, thanks," Arthur says, embarrassed by all the attention. "You two look pretty good too."

"It was all (y/n)," Ivan tells Arthur. It's the first time he's spoken to someone other than you.

"Nice job." Arthur nods at you.

"Are you enjoying the party друг (friend)?" Ivan asks Arthur. You look at Ivan surprised. He and Arthur never got along this well before.

"Eh, it's not really my thing, but it makes Alfred and Francis happy, so I go anyway."

Ivan chuckles. "I understand completely." He wraps his arm around you. "This little red one enjoys these more than me." You look at Ivan more confused than before. You didn't know that about him.

Arthur smiles at the two of you. "I'm glad you're happy," he says to both of you. "You had me really worried for a while." A crash comes from somewhere in the house. "I better make sure that's not Alfred," he says and walks away with a wave.

"You don't like parties?" you ask Ivan after Arthur leaves.

"Not particularly," he answers.

"Then why were you at that one party? The one where we ran into each other for the second time and you gave me your scarf."

Ivan smiles as he remembers. "I was hoping you'd be there подсолнечник (sunflower)."

"Oh." You weren't expecting that. "Well, since when have you and Arthur been friends?"

"I don't know if we're friends," Ivan replies, "but I owe him quite a bit. The least I can do is be friendly."

"Why do you owe him?" Things were getting more confusing by the minute.

"He's the one who convinced you to find me, remember?" he says softly.

"Oh," is all you can think of to say.

"I'm grateful to him, even though he had feelings for you as well. I've decided to overlook that because of what's he's done for us." So Ivan noticed Arthur's feelings too. Ivan holds you close to his body. He kisses you tenderly. "I owe him my life."

"I guess I do too," you say thoughtfully. "Would you like to dance Mr. Wolf? I have some time before going to grandma's."

"I'd love to, маленький красный (little red one)."


	21. Chapter 21

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October ends in a high note with Gilbert's awesome party. November comes with colder weather and the changing of leaves. Ivan takes you to the park by his house to look at the trees shifting into their fall colors. The most common color is yellow. The majority of the maple trees turn a bright yellow like an egg yolk. A few of them turn red. Those are your favorite.

"I wish trees would change color with out it having to get cold," you tell Ivan with a shiver.

He chuckles and tightens the soft pink scarf around your neck. "Da, but don't forget that winter is important too подсолнечник (sunflower)."

"Well some of us don't thrive on the cold you know," you tease.

"You just need to bundle up more," Ivan teases back. He actually does really well in the cold. Once it gets about mid October he'll start wearing his trench coat, scarf, and gloves, but after that, its all he'll wear. He won't put on anything warmer, no matter how cold it gets. The funny thing is the colder it gets, the more lively Ivan becomes. "Someday I will take you to Russia, and you will understand what it means to be really cold."

"Maybe we should go in the summer," you suggest. Experiencing a Russian winter does not sound like a bundle of joy. Ivan chuckles softly. "C'mon. Let's go home." The two of you walk past the fountain in the center of the park hand in hand.

The rest of the month flies by pretty fast. You get very busy at work because of all the Thanksgiving sales in the store. Ludwig gives you as many hours as your busy schedule can hold. On top of that, you have your apprenticeship most evenings as well. Honda-san has you doing more and more in the kitchen as your skills improve. At first he had you doing simple things like washing dishes or taking inventory.

"Once you master the basics, the rest will follow," he had said. You just rolled your eyes as you scrubbed the floor in the back room. This is what the Karate Kid must have felt like.

Now Honda-san has you working with some of the other chefs to prepare basic things like salads and sandwiches. At first you were too nervous to talk to the other staff at the restaurant, but now you can have friendly conversations with them while making food.

Both work and apprenticing, plus classes and school work, fills your schedule pretty tightly. Any and all free time you do have is spent with Ivan, if he's free, or other friends if they're free. Everything is right with the world again. To make things better, winter break begins the last week of November. You didn't get to celebrate Thanksgiving properly last year because of your accident with Belarus, but it'll be different this year.

This year you spend Thanksgiving at Ivan's house with the Baltics. The five of you have become a makeshift family of sorts. A family where some of the members are slightly terrified of another member of the family. So it's a bit of a dysfunctional family, but that's what you like about it.

You and Toris end up in charge of making the food. The other guys watch football on tv instead. You're in charge of the turkey, the gravy, the rolls, and the pumpkin pie. You put Toris in charge of the mashed potatoes, the cranberry jello, and the stuffing.

"Isn't it usually traditional to put the stuffing in the turkey?" Toris asks.

"Well, yes," you answer, "but it's hard for it to cook completely. It'll be safer if we just do it separately."

The dough for the rolls is made first and left to rise while you make the pie crust. Toris mixes the ingredients for the stuffing and sets it aside. The plan is to bake the rolls first and let them cool, then bake the stuffing and pie last so they stay warm for dinner. In between, the turkey will be in the oven for several hours. Potatoes boil on the stove while Toris prepares the jello. You pull the rolls out of the oven and set them on the stove next to the potatoes.

Then the turkey is put in the oven, and your real job begins. You have to watch the color of the turkey and, at regular intervals, bathe it in its drippings. It has a little thermometer in it you also have to watch so you can tell when it's done. It's a tedious job, but it has to be done if you want a turkey for your dinner.

After a few hours, it's finally done, and you put the stuffing and pie in the oven the turkey just vacated. The poor oven has been on since the morning, and still has more to do. You drain the turkey drippings out of the pan, and use them to make gravy. Then you cover the turkey and start setting the table for dinner. By the time the table is set, the other two things in the oven are done. Toris has the potatoes and jello done as well, so you're ready to go.

"It's time to eat!" you tell the three men watching tv.

They file out of the living room excitedly. "Finally!" Ravis shouts. "I'm starved, and (y/n)'s food is the best!"

You take your place next to Ivan at the table. "I think we should go around and say something we're thankful for, since it's Thanksgiving and all." You're not really religious or anything, so this is the closest you'd get to praying or saying grace.

"I'm grateful for all this food!" Ravis blurts out first.

"Be a little more respectful!" Eduard chastises. "I'm thankful for the technology we have in our modern world to make amazing things possible."

"I'm thankful for the freedoms and independence we enjoy each day," Toris says.

"I am thankful for the weather," Ivan says with a smile. "It's wonderfully cold." You share confused glances with the Baltics. What an odd thing to be grateful for. "I'm also thankful for sunflowers, especially this little one right here," he says and kisses your forehead.

You blush lightly before speaking "I'm thankful for chance encounters and fateful meetings. Without them I wouldn't have been able to meet all of you." You smile widely at your odd 'family'. "Time to dig in!"

Everyone starts piling the delicious smelling food onto their plates. Ivan piles only mashed potatoes onto his plate. He makes a big crater in the middle of it and fills it with gravy.

"Do you want anything else Ivan?" you ask while watching him construct his potato volcano.

"Oh, da. Don't worry sunflower," he says with a grin, "this is just for starters."

In less than an hour, almost everyone is done eating. Luckily, after the last time you cooked for this group, you anticipated how much they'd eat and made more than enough. There might be enough leftovers for the next few days. The three that didn't cook look around sleepily after their feast. You and Toris share a knowing look. They don't know about the pumpkin pie.

"I hope you all still have room for dessert," you say in a sing-song voice.

"Dessert!" Ravis yells. He's suddenly attentive. "Heck yeah!"

"Looks like I will need to make more room," Ivan says as he undoes his belt and places it on the table. The Baltics look at it wide eyed while you laugh. They need to loosen up a little.

You walk into the kitchen to grab the warm pie and a carton of vanilla ice cream. You also dig out the whipped cream. Toris comes in to grab clean plates and forks. The two of you walk back into the dining room to serve the pie. You're just about to sit back down when the doorbell rings.

"You're not expecting anyone, are you?" you ask Ivan. He shakes his head in reply since his mouth is currently stuffed full of ice cream and pie. "I'll go get it."

You wipe the pie crumbs off your hands and walk to the door. You get a sudden chill as you approach the door. You try to shake the feeling, but it persists. It even intensifies as you wrap your hand around the doorknob. You almost don't open the door, but you know it would be rude. Whoever it is can't be that bad.

You were wrong.

"Hello (y/n)," Belarus says without emotion. "Is Brother here?"


	22. Chapter 22

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

All you can do is stand and gape at Ivan's younger sister. Your brain is completely frozen over with fear. You need to get out of here, fast, but what about Ivan and the others? Maybe you should go warn them. Before you can do anything, another figure appears in the doorway.

"I brought the bags Natalya! Was he surprised?" You stare at the speaker, who looks very familiar. She looks like one of Ivan's matryoshka dolls. She drops the bags she's carrying and looks up at you. "Oh! You must be (y/n)!" She grabs you in a tight hug, and you do your best not to think about her large chest being pressed against you.

"(Y/n)? What's taking so long?" Ivan asks when he appears behind you. He sees what's going on and freezes. "Katyusha? Natalya? What are you doing here?"

"Surprise!" Katyusha says as she releases you. "We wanted to surprise you with a visit. We're visiting for the holidays!"

Ivan goes pale at the announcement. He's probably thinking about spending the holidays with the crazy Belarus around. "That's wonderful Katyusha. Please, come inside. (Y/n) just finished serving some delicious pie."

Katyusha follows Ivan toward the dining room with a happy bounce to her step. You're about to follow when a cold hand grips your arm. You freeze. You'd almost forgotten about Belarus.

"I see you're still around," she hisses. "I thought I told you to stay away from Brother." Her grip tightens, and you brace yourself for the worst.

"Natalya." Ivan had come back when he noticed the two of you not following him. "Let to of her and come have some pie."

Belarus releases her hold on your arm and walks into the dining room without another glance at you. You let out a ragged breath you had been holding. Even with Ivan around, she still scares you.

"Are you alright подсолнечник (sunflower)?" Ivan asks you as soon as Natalya is gone.

"I-I think so," you reply, still a little shaken.

Ivan joins you at the doorway and closes the door, which has been open the whole time. Then he hugs you and kisses the top of your head. "I won't let anything happen to you this time, I promise."

You clutch the front of the sweatshirt Ivan is wearing and nod.

"Now come on. You still have a plate full of pie."

You and Ivan decide that it's probably in your best interest to not stay at Ivan's house over break this time. The Baltics stay though because they can help keep an eye in Belarus. Her presence doesn't stop you from visiting Ivan in your free time. When you don't have to work or help Honda-san, you're at Ivan's house.

The first time you come over after Ivan's sisters arrived, Belarus answers the door. You nearly have a heart attack. Ivan saves you just in time because you're pretty sure she was about to reach for her knife. How does she get that past airport security anyway?

The second time Toris answers the door. He explains that Ivan warned the Baltics ahead of time that you were going to be coming. He didn't want a repeat of last time.

The seven of you in Ivan's house are going to be putting up the Christmas tree the third time you come over. The five of you that did it last year agree that waiting until the last minute was not a good idea. The tree is another large pine, and is even taller than last year. That means Ivan, being the tallest, has to climb up the ladder and put on the star. He also puts up the string of lights while he's up there.

You notice several new ornaments on the tree this year, so you ask Ivan about it.

"These?" Ivan asks while pointing at the ornaments in question. "Katyusha brought these with her from Ukraine. She's very fond of them."

You look closely at the ornaments. Three of them are clustered together. These three definitely look like Katyusha, Ivan, and Natalya. Unlike the matryoshka dolls, they're proportional to the real person, so the Ivan ornament in the middle is the tallest. There's another three bunched together underneath them. You smile when you see it's the Baltics. The detail put into them is amazing. You can see little glasses on Eduard, and every blonde curl on Ravis's head.

"Do you like them?" Katyusha asks from behind you.

"Very much," you tell her when you turn around. "They're beautiful."

Katyusha smiles. "Here," she says and hands you a small box. "It's an early Christmas gift from me."

You open the box to find a ornament shaped like you. "Oh, it's lovely," you say in awe. Your ornament looks just like you. It has your hair, your eyes, and even your smile. "How did you get this?"

"I had Ivan send me a picture of you and got it specially made." She hands you a picture. It's one of you in your coat, scarf, and gloves that Ivan took last Christmas to sent Katyusha. He thought she'd like to see you wearing her gift. You look back at your ornament, who is wearing the exact same thing. "Do you like it?" Katyusha asks.

"I love it. Thank you so much." Katyusha takes the ornament from you and hangs it on the tree next to hers and Ivan's. You're secretly glad she didn't hang it on the other side of Ivan because, even though its just an ornament, you don't trust anything that looks like Natalya.

"Very nice," Ivan comments as he comes over to hang his sunflower ornaments on the tree. "We even match." It's true. Both your ornament and Ivan's are wearing their winter gear, including matching scarves and gloves.

You give a small laugh before feeling a chill to down your spine. You turn to see Belarus glaring at you. You quickly turn around and help Ivan hang sunflowers.

"Don't worry подсолнечник (sunflower)," Ivan whispers. "It'll be okay." He gives your lips a soft, reassuring kiss.

Christmas morning comes sooner than you could've imagined. You were so busy shopping for everyone and working that it kind of snuck up on you. You did have everything ready by Christmas Eve though. You had spent that night at Ivan's house. He thought you would be fine sleeping over for one night. You slept with him in his bed just as a precaution, but you're not complaining.

There are more gifts under the tree this year because of Katyusha and Natalya, but it turns out Natalya got everyone socks for Christmas. Well, everyone but Ivan. He got underwear. Everyone stared at it in horror while Belarus beamed, or what passes as beaming coming from her.

"T-thank you Natalya," Ivan says. "They're great."

"Put them on," she says with a smile. It's a really scary smile.

"Maybe some other time," Ivan says nervously. "There are still other presents to open." This seems to appease Belarus.

Everyone continues to open their presents. You give Katyusha a box with different kinds of hair clips in it. Some are shaped like flowers while others are just different colors. You had gotten Eduard a documentary on information technology through the ages. You thought it looked terribly boring, but you couldn't help but think of Eduard when you saw it. You give Toris an herb growing kit. He's becoming pretty good at cooking lately, so you thought he could get good use out of some fresh herbs. He also seems like the type that's really good with plants. You and Ivan had pooled your resources together to buy Ravis the newest first person shooter game he's been raving about. Ivan had to tower over him threateningly to keep him from running out of the room to play it the minute he opened it.

You receive another cookbook from Eduard. This one is also an international collection, but focuses on desserts.

"It's the companion book to the one I got you last year," Eduard explains. "I thought you'd like it since you liked the other one so much."

"You mean you just want (y/n) to cook for us some more!" Ravis pipes up. This gets a laugh from everyone and causes Eduard to blush.

From Toris, you get a pair of new winter boots. They're not the heavy clunky type, but the chíck fashionable kind. They're a light beige color and go to just below your knees.

"Oh, Toris they're gorgeous," you say with wide eyes.

"I'm glad you like them," he says bashfully.

Ravis gets you a headset used for gaming.

"What is she going to do with that?" Eduard asks the youngest Baltic.

"Don't worry about it Eduard. I'll bring it with me when I play video games at Alfred's," you explain. "He loves playing online. Thank you Ravis."

Your last gift is from Ivan. You have no idea what to expect this year. He hands you a small but slender box. You unwrap it, and open it carefully.

"Ivan! It's lovely," you gasp. A sunflower pendant lays inside the box with a delicate silver chain. The petals of the sunflower are set with sparkling yellow stones. "I love it."

"Da, and I love you подсолнечник (sunflower)," Ivan says. He picks up the necklace and clips it around your neck for you. "Lovely," he breathes against your neck. He places a small kiss there as well.

"Here, open yours," you say excitedly. You hand him a small square box.

He unwraps the box and looks at the label on it. He smiles and looks up at you. "You shouldn't have (y/n)." You had gotten him a bottle of rather expensive cologne. "спасибо (thank you)."

"You're welcome Mr. Knight," you say as you settle in his lap. "Now you'll smell sexy," you whisper so only he can hear.

The two of you are interrupted by a feral scream. Everyone turns to see Belarus shooting you and Ivan venomous glares. She bares her teeth in a frustrated growl. You're afraid she's going to go crazy and start slashing things up, but she suddenly loses all of her fight and runs away to her room.

"I'll go to her," Ivan says with a sigh. He begins to get up when Katyusha pushes him back down.

"No. It's better if I go." She begins to walk toward the stairs, but stops when you stand up.

"I'll go," you say in a quiet voice. Everyone looks at you in surprise. "I'll go," you say again in a louder voice.

"You can't sunflower," Ivan says in a panic. "She'll try to hurt you again. Let Katyusha go."

You shake your head. "This is something I need to do," you tell him. "I'll be okay." You lean down and give him a gentle kiss.

"Okay (y/n)," he says. You can tell he's not convinced. "Be careful."

You nod solemnly and turn to the stairs. You take a deep breath and begin to walk. There's no going back now. You stop in front of Belarus's door. Either you'll make it out or you won't, but it's time you reconcile your differences with Ivan's younger sister. Your hand is shaking as you grasp the doorknob. You take another deep breath and open the door.

Belarus's room is dark and eerie. It looks like a nest. All of the black blankets have been pulled off the bed and are gathered on the floor. Belarus sits in the middle of the nest of blankets sobbing. You close the door softly and make your way to the crying girl. You don't know what else to do, so you sit down beside her on the swath of blankets.

"What are you doing here?" Belarus spits at you.

"We're worried about you," you say gently. You don't want to upset her more than she is.

"Don't lie to me!" she shrieks. "No one cares about me! Look at the way Brother looks at you!" She stands up and looms darkly over you. "Why can't he look at me like that? Why? It's not fair!" Belarus drops to her knees and cries harder for several minutes. "I've loved him for so long," she whispers when she calms down. "It's not fair."

"Oh Bealrus," you say kindly. "I'm so sorry." You hesitantly place your hand on her back and give it soothing rubs. "Everything's going to be okay."

Belarus grabs your wrist and squeezes hard. "You can't tell me that!" She growls as she glares murderously at me. "Brother loves you! He always runs away, or tells me to leave. He doesn't care about me."

"That's not true," I tell her and try not to wince at her tight grip. "He does love you."

"How would you know?" she asks spitefully.

"Because you're his sister," you say through clenched teeth. Her hand continues to tighten around your wrist. "You're his family, so of course he loves you."

Belarus suddenly lets go of your wrist. Her eyes lose their former intensity. "You really think so?"

You nod your head. "Trust me. He really does care."

She looks at you suspiciously. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because everyone needs a friend," you say with a small smile. "Because I know how much it hurts to feel alone and left behind."

Tears brim in Belarus's eyes, but she wipes them away quickly. "What's that?" she asks pointing at a small wrapped package in your hand.

You had completely forgotten you had brought it with you. "It's your Christmas present, from me." You hand it to her. "Merry Christmas Belarus."

"Natalya," she says as she unwraps her gift. "Call me Natalya." She holds up a light blue frilly ribbon, and stares at it.

"Uh, I'm sorry if you don't like it. I wasn't sure what color-"

You don't get to finish because Natalya throws her old white ribbon at you. She ties her new ribbon in a bow on top of her head. "You can keep that," Natalya tells you.

You're not sure what to do with her old ribbon, but you slip it in your pocket anyway. "Thanks."

Natalya looks down at the ground. "Thank you...for...um..." She lets her sentence drop off.

You smile softly when you understand what she's trying to say. You give her a gentle hug. "You're welcome Natalya."

Later, Ivan and Katyusha peek into Natalya's room to see what happened to the two of you. They find you and Natalya sleeping in the mess of blankets on the floor holding hands. A big smile graces your sleeping face, and a faint one appears on hers.

"I can't believe she calmed Natalya down," Katyusha whispers to Ivan. "She's really something."

"Da," Ivan agrees as he remembers you calming him in the middle of his rampage. "She truly is."


	23. Chapter 23

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You didn't have any more trouble with Natalya after the two of you had talked. She's still really creepy sometimes, but you don't fear for your life when she's around anymore. The two of you now share an odd relationship. She follows you around when you're over at Ivan's house. Not a creepy murderer stalker follow, but a creepy puppy follow. She may not be out to kill anymore, but there's nothing you can do about her odd personality.

Sometimes she follows right behind you, sometimes she'll hold your sleeve, and sometimes she just grabs you in a hug and won't let go. Basically, she's gotten really attached to you. Once she even growled at Latvia when he have you a hug. This keeps up for the rest of the time she and Katyusha stay at Ivan's.

Ivan's sisters stay long enough for his birthday and New Years. Katyusha insisted that they work on Ivan's birthday surprise, so you have no idea what to expect. Their surprise turns out to be flooding the backyard to make a ice rink for skating. It's a lot of fun, especially since you've been practicing skating with Ivan. The only problem is now the backyard is a solid sheet of ice.

"Just do this," Natalya says and points a blow dryer at the ice. Everyone looks at her and sweat drops. Trying to melt the ice like that would take forever.

"Perhaps we should let nature do that, sister," Ivan suggests as he takes the blow dryer from Natalya's hands. She just nods and glomps onto him. He looks around uncomfortably, but doesn't make her let go.

Natalya has really calmed her down after your talk with her. If she still carries her knife, then no one knows because it hasn't been seen for days. She's been a lot more mellow around Ivan, even though she still follows him around. Her glares don't feel as threatening anymore either. On top of that she's nicer to Katyusha now. She used to say rude things to her older sister, or ignore her completely. Natalya surprised everyone by giving Katyusha a hug the other day. This made her older sister burst into happy tears, and Ivan smiled.

The time finally arrives for Katyusha and Natalya to go home. It's decided that only you and Ivan would take them to the airport because there's not enough room for seven of you in Ivan's car. The Baltic Trio wave from the house as the car pulls into the street. You think that, secretly, the three are glad they don't have to spend more time with Belarus since they've kind of been her babysitters this whole time.

At the airport, you and Ivan help his sisters check in for their flight. You walk with them as far as you can go before you're stopped by security gates.

"It was so nice to finally meet you," Katyusha says as she gives you a hug. "If you ever visit Russia, please let me know, and I'll come too!" Then she turns to give Ivan a hug.

Natalya walks up to you next. She doesn't say anything, but he hugs you real tight. You have to take a deep breath to stop the tears from forming. You're going to miss Natalya, even though she scared you sometimes. She only lets go long enough to give Ivan a hug, and then the two sisters walk through security to their flight. You and Ivan wave to them as they walk away.

"I'm going to miss them," you sniff. A few tears have managed to slip out of your eyes. You wipe them away quickly.

"Da, I will too," Ivan says softly. "I always forget how much I like having them with me until they leave." He pulls you to his side and gives your forehead a gentle kiss. "Let's go home, da?"

School starts again in January after break. You and many of the other students look forward to spring break already, but for several different reasons. Some of the students just want another break, some have trips planned, and some look forward to graduation afterward. You would be part of the last group. Graduation means you're one step closer to making your dream of becoming a chef a reality. Your diploma will be your magical ticket to happiness, but first you have to pass all of your classes.

This is proving to be a challenge this year. You're taking some of the most advanced culinary and restaurant management classes your college offers, so your classes are no walk in the park. You don't even have time to walk through parks with the packed schedule you have. If you're not busy with classes, then you have work or your apprenticeship.

Your apprenticeship is technically over. You'd put in the required amount of hours needed to graduate with a culinary degree, but you enjoy working with Honda-san so much that you continue to go. He now has you following him as an assistant chef. You do a lot of the menial work involved with making a dish, like dicing onions or slicing meat, while Honda-san puts it all together. This way you have hands on experience, and can watch a pro at work at the same time.

One night in February, at the restaurant, Honda-san approaches you with a worried look on his face. "Excuse me, (y/n)-san, but are you feeling alright? You do not look so good."

He's probably referring to the dark bags under your eyes. You haven't been getting much sleep lately because of the essays and projects you've been working on. "Yes I'm fine Honda-san," you answer. "Don't worry aboooooooo-" You don't get to finish your sentence because a large yawn escapes your mouth.

"That's what I thought," he says with a nod. "You haven't been getting enough sleep (y/n)-san. You know you don't have to keep coming here anymore. You finished all of your hours."

"I know," you reply as you try to rub the sleepiness out of your eyes. "But I like it here. I like being able to work with you." You also don't want to give up your chance to work at a real restaurant.

Honda-san smiles. "I'm grateful you think so, but I think it would be best if you focused on school until you graduate." His smile broadens. "Then you can come back and work, okay?"

Your eyes widen. "Are you offering me a job?"

"Yes, but only if you graduate."

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" You give Honda-san a big hug. "I won't let you down."

He looks a little shocked at the sudden contact, and pats your back awkwardly. "You're welcome. Now, you should go home and get some sleep."

You give him a hasty goodbye before leaving the restaurant. You send Ivan a text with the good news. You're so happy you could skip home, but you don't want to get weird looks from people. Your dreams are coming true little by little, and nothing can spoil this for you.

When you unlock the door to your house, you're greeted by an excited Ivan. He picks you up and twirls you around in the doorway.

"Congratulations (y/n)," he says when he puts you down. "You're a chef now!"

"Well, only if I graduate," you tell him. "But that shouldn't be too hard now that I don't have to go to the restaurant." That's when you notice a smell in the air. "What's that smell Ivan?"

"A little something for you," he says with a grin. He steps back so you can see the little table in your dining room. There are two lit candles standing in the middle of it surrounded by rose petals. Two places have been set at the table, and a box of Chinese takeout sits in front of each one.

"Chinese?" you ask with a quirk of an eyebrow. "Doesn't fit the mood, don't you think?"

"Sorry," Ivan says with a chuckle. "It's all I could get on such short notice. I'm surprised I could get everything ready before you got home."

You lean up and give him a sweet kiss. "Well I'm glad you did."

He leads you to the table and pulls out a chair for you. The two of you eat and talk in the candlelight until your food runs out. Ivan dismisses himself to leave since he has a paper to work on yet. His business classes keep him just as busy as yours culinary ones.

Ivan pulls you close, and places a loving kiss on your lips. You smile into the kiss, then move your lips in time with Ivan's. He gives your side a quick poke where he knows you're ticklish, and you gasp. He takes advantage of that to wrestle your tongue with his. You give his tongue a quick nip as it retreats back into its own mouth.

"I'm proud of you, подсолнечник (sunflower), and I love you very much," Ivan whispers in your ear. He backs away toward the door. "Goodnight my little chef."

"Goodnight Ivan," you say as he steps out the door. "I love you too." You brush your fingers against the sunflower pendant around your neck. You never take off the necklace Ivan gave you. It always holds a little part of him close to your heart.

You're about to go upstairs to get ready for bed when your phone rings. You scramble to remember where you put it. It's not in your pocket, or your purse, so it must be in your coat. You check the coat's pocket and pull out your phone. The screen says it's Elizabeta calling.

"Hello?" you answer.

"Hey (y/n)! It's me! Do you have a minute to talk?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up?" You begin to walk up the stairs while taking to her.

"Well my parents sent me two tickets for Hawaii for Christmas," Elizabeta explains. "So I was wondering if you want to go with me."

"Hawaii?" you say in disbelief. Her parents must be loaded to send her a gift like that. You enter your room and take a seat on the bed. "What about Gil?"

The line is quiet for a few moments. "Um, well...he's busy, and I want to spend some girl time with someone. So I thought, who else but (y/n)?"

You can sense something's wrong from the pause, and the tone of her voice, but you don't ask about it. There'll be plenty of time for that later. "When are we going?"

"In three weeks," Elizabeta tells you with her usual enthusiasm back. "We'll be going over spring break."

"Sounds great," you say with a smile. Just another reason to look forward to break. "I'd love to go."

"Really? Yay!" she squeals on the other side of the line. "I'll fill you in on the details later, okay?"

"Alright. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye!" she says excitedly before the line goes dead.

You put your phone down on the nightstand next to your bed and lie down. Things are looking better and better for you. You can't wait to tell Ivan more good news. You feel a little bad leaving him for break, but he has the Baltics, so he's not technically alone. He'll understand that this is a once in a lifetime chance. Your eyes begin to flutter closed as you think about Hawaii. You fall asleep without changing out of your clothes, or calling Ivan.


	24. Chapter 24

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Elizabeta picks you up early in the morning. It's the first day of spring break, and you can't wait to start your vacation. Elizabeta helps you carry your bags to her small car. They easily fit in the trunk with her bags too. You climb into the passenger side of the car.

"Ready to go?" Elizabeta asks.

"Ready," you answer with a nod. You do your best not to shiver too much. It's still chilly in March, and you only have on a light jacket. You won't need anything heavier in Hawaii.

"Man, it seemed like spring break would never get here," Elizabeta says, her eyes on the road. "I've been so excited I could hardly sleep."

"I know," you say in agreement. "It's been so busy, but the weeks seemed to drag on."

The two of you chat in the car for the whole ride to the airport. You want to ask her what's going on with Gilbert, but decide its better not to bring that up now. She's been avoiding the subject whenever you two talk. The conversation turns to what kinds of swimsuits you brought when the airport comes into view. A few minutes later, Elizabeta is parking her car in the parking structure, and the two of you carry your bags to the airport.

Check in goes smoothly, and you don't have to wait too long to board the plane. The flight will last for several hours, so you brought along a book to read and your iPod in its Russian flag case. Nothing out of the ordinary happens on the flight. The plane hits some turbulence once, but everything works out alright. You and Elizabeta become excited when you see the cluster of islands in the clear cerulean water out the small airplane window.

The plane touches down on the runway with a few bumps. You blink in surprise as you exit the plane. The heat and humidity slams into you like a wall of jello. The air is noticeably thicker from the moisture, but it has a salty sea tang to it as well.

"Man it's hot," Elizabeta says. "The humidity's gonna do a number on my hair."

You laugh and pull her through the airport to the baggage claim. You can't wait to get your swimsuit on and cool off in the ocean. The hotel the two of you stay in is right off the beach. Unfortunately, the balcony in your room faces the other way, but the sea breeze still floats in through the open doors. You and Elizabeta change into your swimsuits and hit the beach.

You have on simple black swimsuit shorts and a colorful tankini top. Elizabeta has on a green bikini that accents her hair and eyes. You float in the cool ocean while avoiding getting splashed in the face by waves. The two of you also do quite a bit of sunbathing. It would be nice to have a tan for graduation. For dinner, you go to a restaurant in the hotel. It's nothing fancy, but it tastes great after a day running around in the sun.

When you get back to your room, you call Ivan. He took the news pretty well when you told him you were leaving for break. You promised to stay safe and have fun. You can't call him as often as you'd like because you don't want to pay for a boatload of roaming charges, but you figure you should tell him you landed safely.

He picks up after the first ring. "Hello подсолнечник (sunflower)."

"Hi Ivan. I miss you already," you tell him.

He chuckles. "As I do you. How is the weather?"

"Sunny and warm," you say excitedly. "I wish you were here to see it. It's so beautiful here!"

"I'm sure it is sunflower, but I'd rather see you."

You giggle. "Oh Ivan, I'll be back in a few weeks," you say reassuringly.

"And I will count down the days."

"I'll call you again later in the week, okay?"

"Da, sunflower. Be safe," he says lovingly.

"I will. Love you."

"я тебя люблю слишком (I love you too), (y/n)," he tells you.

"Bye Ivan," you say a little sadly.

"Goodbye подсолнечник (sunflower)." And the line goes dead.

You sigh as you lower your phone. It's not easy to be away from Ivan.

"Sounds like you two are doing just fine," Elizabeta comments as she watches tv.

"Yeah." You smile when you think of Ivan. "How are you and Gil?" you ask tentatively.

"Eh," is the only answer Elizabeta gives.

This worries you more than before. Things cannot be going well at all. You need to figure out what's going on, but decide not to push the subject now.

The next few days are a blast. You and Elizabeta do all sorts of fun things like horseback riding on the beach, snorkeling through the coral reefs, hiking up volcanic mountains, and biking around the island. You enjoy yourself immensely, and it's all the more fun because Elizabeta is there.

It's been a week since the two of you arrived for your vacation. The weather has been beautiful so far, and you take advantage of every minute of it. A trip to the beach is a daily occurrence, but this time it's different.

"Wanna go to a club tonight?"

"What?" You look over at Elizabeta in surprise. She's tanning on her towel beside you.

"Yeah. I'm in the mood to dance, meet some guys, get wasted. Sounds fun, right?"

You look at her with wide eyes. This doesn't sound like Elizabeta at all. "What's the matter Lizzie?"

"Nothing's the matter!" she snaps at you.

"But-"

"Fine! Forget I said anything!" You just stare at her in confusion. Something is really wrong. You're about to say something else when two guys approach you.

"Hey ladies!" one of them says. "How would you like to get some drinks with us?"

"Um, no thanks," you tell them. "We're not interested, sorry."

"C'mon," the other guy says. "I'm sure we can convince you two hotties to join us." He places a hand on Elizabeta's bare shoulder.

"We're not interested!" She shouts at them. She stands up and faces them. "Get lost before I pound your faces in!"

The two guys stumble over each other as they run away. If it were any other circumstance, you would have laughed, but things are definitely off with Elizabeta. You look up at her and see that there are silent tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Oh Lizzie!" you say with concern. "Please tell me what's wrong." She shakes her head. "Let's go back to the room," you suggest softly.

You hurry Elizabeta back to your room. She walks into the bathroom without a word. Her shower lasts for almost an hour. When she walks out, she sits on her bed wordlessly.

"Elizabeta," you say gently. "Tell me what's going on with Gilbert."

Elizabeta clenches her fist, then releases it. "We...had a fight."

"Oh no," you breathe. "I'm so sorry."

She smiles sadly. "It was so stupid. I was so stupid." She hangs her head. "He...asked me to marry him."

"What?" This is not what you had expected at all. "He did?"

Elizabeta nods her head. "But...but I told him...I told him I don't know."

"But you love him, don't you?" you ask her in shock.

"Yes of course!" she insists as she looks up at you. "I do! But..." She hesitates. "My best friend, Roderich, doesn't like Gilbert. Every time I talk to him, all he does is complain about me and Gil. I love Gilbert, but I don't want to lose Roderich either." She looks at you with conflict in her eyes. "What do I do? I told Gil I don't know, and he got upset. I don't know what to do." She begins to cry again.

You sit on the bed next to her and hug her tightly. "It seems to me that if Roderich really is your friend, and if he cares, he'll let you do whatever is best for you."

Elizabeta wipes away some tears. "You think so?"

You nod. "He may not always act like it, but Gilbert is a great guy. I'm sure deep down Roderich thinks so too."

"So you think I should marry Gil?" she asks. She's stopped crying now.

"Yes I do," you tell her with a smile. "You obviously love him, and he loves you very much. I can tell."

Elizabeta begins to smile, but quickly frowns again. "What do I tell him?"

You think about that for a bit. "The truth," you say eventually. "I'm sure Gilbert will understand. He may be thick, but he's not a complete idiot."

This makes her laugh. "Alright. I'll give it a shot."

"Good. Now lets enjoy the rest of our vacation!" you say enthusiastically. "I, for one, would love to learn how to make some leis."

You do, in fact, learn how to make leis later on your trip. You also rent some surfboards to practice your surfing skills, but you've both gotten a little rusty since last summer at Ivan's beach house. You and Elizabeta reminisce about that as you paddle into the surf on your boards. The two of you also go cliff diving and windsurfing. Once, when you're swimming in a secluded cove, a pod of dolphins appears. Elizabeta fearlessly approaches them, but you're more cautious. It turns out that you had nothing to fear because they're very friendly.

Soon it's time to leave. School begins in a little over a week, and both of you have papers and projects to work on. The return flight is just as

uneventful as the flight there. The first thing that hits you as you get off the plane is the temperature. It's not as warm or humid here as it is in Hawaii. You and Elizabeta grab your bags and head for the exit. That's when the second thing hits you.

Gilbert and Ivan are waiting for the two of you at the front of the airport. You smile and wave at both of them, but Elizabeta freezes. She looks at you terrified. You reach out and squeeze her hand.

"It's alright. Just tell him the truth."

She nods and walks to him with her head bowed. When she reaches him, she freezes again. Gilbert looks at her unsure. You had called him from Hawaii one day when Elizabeta was in the shower. You told him to meet you two at the airport when you get back, and that it was important he was there. At first he didn't want to, but you told him he didn't have a choice because Ivan would be picking him up. You insisted it would be very important until he agreed to go willingly.

"I'm sorry," you hear Elizabeta tell him softly. "I was so stupid." Gilbert looks at her surprised. She must not admit that she's wrong that often. "Gilbert Beilschmidt," she says in a stronger voice. "I accept your proposal. I will be your wife, if you still want me."

Gilbert picks her up in a huge hug and spins her around and around. The two of them are laughing, and Elizabeta's even crying. When they stop spinning, Gilbert leans in and kisses her deeply. She happily accepts, and the two of them kiss for a few minutes. In the meantime, you walk to Ivan and stand next to him with your luggage.

"I love you Lizzie," Gilbert says softly. Then in a louder voice, "Did you hear that everyone? The awesome me is getting married! Kesesese!" Elizabeta blushes but doesn't stop him from shouting.

"What just happened подсолнечник (sunflower)?" Ivan asks confused. You haven't completely filled him in on what's going on.

"Love," you tell him simply.

Ivan accepts the answer and nods. "I missed you."

"I missed you too Ivan," you say and lean up to kiss him. "Let's go home, and give those two some time alone."

The two of you walk away hand in hand. You glance back one last time to see the happy couple kissing once again. There's absolutely nothing that can go wrong now, you think to yourself.


	25. Chapter 25

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Graduation looms closer and closer each passing day. You had been sad to see spring break end, but also excited for the end of your last year in college. You, Ivan, the Baltics, Alfred, Feli, and Gilbert are in the graduating class this year. Everyone else you know has already graduated, or is still going to school like Lili and Matthew. Whether they've graduated or not, people are getting very excited in your town.

"Are you graduating this year hun?" an elderly lady asks you one day at work.

You nod your head vigorously. "Yes I am!"

"Good for you dearie," she tells you before leaving. The person behind her in line heard her talking, and now they want to talk about it too. This becomes a regular occurrence at work.

You spend the two weeks before finals working on your last couple essays you need to write. One of them is a research paper. Your topic is The Transformation of Serving Sizes and Nutritional Values from the 19th to the 20th Century. It's a pretty dry subject, and you're kind of regretting picking it, but there's nothing you can do about it now.

It doesn't matter to you how awful the topic is. You need to make this essay a good one to pass the class. Once you get your diploma you'll be able to work at the restaurant with Honda-san, which is your dream come true. You never really had solid plans for what to do after college, so Honda-san offering you a job was a godsend. It makes things so much simpler for you. Your dreams are finally coming true.

Ivan helps you study for exams and write essays. He's just as busy with his own classes, but he still manages to find time for you. You feel a little guilty, but you love spending time with him at the same time. He's also working closely with the Baltic Trio to start their construction company. The Baltics don't know the first thing about construction, but they do know logistics, finance, and investment. They'll be running business operations while Ivan oversees everything else.

"We're best suited to run the company from behind the scenes," Toris tells you. You're at Ivan's house studying, and the Baltics happened to be there, so you asked them about it.

"It's true," Eduard says. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "We have no construction experience at all."

"If we're being honest, we'd rather start some other business, but Mr. Russia insist-" Ravis is cut off by several hands clamped over his mouth. Luckily, Ivan isn't around to hear what he said.

"Ravis may be right, but there's no way we could tell Mr. Russia," Toris says with a sigh. "Construction is so..."

"Brutish," Eduard suggests.

"Boring," Ravis also says.

You're not sure how to help them, but somehow you wish you could.

All of your other friends' plans for after college are coming together too. Alfred wants to move to New York and try his hand at modeling, but if that doesn't work out he's going to be a school councilor and help little kids. His fun-loving personality is perfect for it. Feli is planning on moving to Italy with Romano. They're going to study ancient architecture to inspire designs of their own. Feli is actually really good at drawing, so it's a good career for him. You're surprised Romano agreed to go with him though.

Lastly, there's Gil. His plans are probably the best in your opinion. He's planning on going into advertising, which is something you think suits him very well. He's going to try to get a job, at the same company that owns the chain of grocery stores where you work, as an advertising consultant. Someday he wants to work his way up to chief advertising director. He and Ludwig can climb the corporate ladder together. This isn't the part of his plan you like the best. The best part of his plan is marrying Elizabeta. They're waiting until after he graduates before tying the knot, and you can't wait. You've been asked to be the maid of honor. You and Elizabeta had jumped around excitedly when she asked you while Gilbert watched on confused. He doesn't quite understand why women get into this kind of stuff.

You finish your last exam with confidence, and walk out of the building to meet Ivan. All the hard work involved with college is over. You're almost completely done with school for the rest of your life. It's an odd thought, and makes you a little sad, but you're excited for all of your future opportunities. Ivan walks out of a different building across the main plaza of campus. The two of you meet in the middle, and you slip your hand into his.

"How was the exam?" Ivan asks you.

"It wasn't bad actually. I'm glad I studied for it though." You turn to him and smile. "Thanks for helping me."

"It's my pleasure подсолнечник (sunflower)," he says, and kisses the side of your head. "Let's go home and relax."

You laugh at his suggestion. No matter how physically strong Ivan is, school always mentally exhausts him. "Sounds good to me, but I get to pick the movie this time."

Ivan raises his eyebrow. "Da," he says slowly. "But I will not watch The Notebook or anything similar."

"That's not fair! You always pick horror movies I don't like," you complain.

"Alright, alright," Ivan finally agrees after several minutes of getting the puppy dog eyes from you.

"Okay, let's watch The Dark Knight. All that kissy lovey dovey stuff is overrated anyway." You laugh for three minutes straight at the shocked expression on Ivan's face. He was sure you'd make him watch some sappy chick flick. The two of you walk to his house to enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

The night of your graduation ceremony arrives faster than you could have anticipated. You look at yourself in the bathroom mirror one last time before walking downstairs to wait for Ivan. He's going to drive you and the Baltics to the ceremony. Maybe you should invest in a car soon since you'll be staying here. Your doorbell rings, and you hurry to answer it.

"привет (hello) (y/n). Are you ready to go?"

"Yes! Let me grab my purse."

You walk with him to his car after you find your purse and put your phone in it. "You look beautiful подсолнечник (sunflower)," Ivan whispers in your ear.

"Thank you," you reply softly.

It's just a short drive to the college. You see lots of other people with their parents arriving too. Ivan's parents are gone, so you don't expect to see them. You have no idea if the Baltics' parents would be there, or if they had any for that matter. You look around for your parents, but it's hard to see in the dark. It's possible they're already seated inside. They were so exited to get the invitation, especially your mother.

The five of you walk to where the other students are lined up. It's a sea of maroon robes and hats. Only the tassels have white in them, which is your other school color. You're about to get in your place when your phone starts buzzing. You should silence it after this call. The screen says it's from your dad.

"Hello?" You're not sure what's going on because he should already be inside waiting for the ceremony to start.

"Hello? (Y/n)?" your dad says.

"Yeah dad, it's me. What's going on?"

"Oh (y/n), I'm so sorry. We really wanted to go. We really did. But something's come up and we can't make it to your graduation. We should've told you sooner, but things have been so crazy around here and-" Your dad's voice breaks off in what sounds like a sob.

"What's going on dad?" you ask starting to panic.

"It's your mother," he says in a quiet voice. "She's sick."

You freeze. This can't be happening. "What?"

"She's very sick. A few days ago she was out for a walk and got stuck in the rain. She must have been out in the cold for too long because she caught a bad case of pneumonia," your dad explains. "She's in the hospital right now. I'm so sorry it's taken so long to tell you."

"I-is she okay? She's going to be fine, right?" you ask frantically.

"The doctors aren't sure right now. The infection could either get a lot better or a lot worse at this point, but I need you to come home for a while. It's hard for me to admit, but your mother and I are starting to get old. I need you to help me with the house and other things while your mother is in the hospital."

The world as you know it slowly comes to a halt. Your job at the restaurant, gone. The comfortable life you've made here, gone. Being with Ivan, gone. You have to leave everything behind now. "O-okay," you tell your dad in a shaky voice. "I'll leave as soon as I can."

"I'm sorry you have to do this," he says in a sad, tired voice. "Your mother would appreciate it if she were awake."

"I know," you say softly. "I'll see you soon dad. Give mom my love."

"I will. Goodbye (y/n). Good luck tonight." The line goes dead.

You put your phone away and get in your place in line. All of your focus goes into trying not to cry. You don't hear any of the speeches given, and you're hardly aware of walking to the front to receive your diploma. All you know is that you have to leave everything you love behind. You understand why, and you're not upset about that. You love your mom and would do anything to be with her. It's just all of your plans were for nothing. Now you have no plans.

A few tears slip out when you throw your cap in the air with everyone else. They must think you're sad, or happy, to be leaving because no one asks you about it. You wipe them away before your friends can see. They surround you in hugs and congratulations.

"Hey (y/n)!" Alfred shouts over the noisy crowd. "We did it! Now we can play video games whenever we want!"

His smiling face is replaced by Feliciano's. "(Y/n)! We're real adults now, veeee~! I'll send you lots of pictures from Italy. You have to visit me some time!"

Gilbert crushes you in a gigantic hug. "We finally made it (y/n)! Kesesesesesese! The awesome me owes you so much! Don't forget my awesome wedding! You'll be awesome in it too!"

You don't have the heart to tell them you have to leave. They're all so happy that you can't help but feel a little happy too. You laugh and smile with them until things start to die down. The building empties as everyone leaves to celebrate. You find Ivan when the crowd begins to thin. He's taller than most people, so it's not too hard.

He walks toward you and gives you a hug. "This is the end sunflower. We're free to live our lives now." He becomes worried when you don't respond. "What is the matter (y/n)?"

You know you have to tell Ivan. If there's anyone that has to know, it's him. The problem is you don't know how to tell him. What does this mean for your relationship? You can't ask him to come with you. Who knows how long you'll have to stay with your parents, and he has his business to start. You don't want to get in the way of that.

"Let's go somewhere," Ivan suggests. You nod, still unsure how to break the news.

He drives you to his house and parks the car. He opens your door for you and helps you step out. "You can leave your things in the car," he says. "Let's go for a walk."

You silently walk with him, hand in hand, as he leads you to the park with the fountain. You're still in the nice dress you had bought for graduation. It's dark blue with matching sequins and rhinestones clustering the bottom of the skirt. It hugs your figure snugly and accents your curves. The breeze ruffles the skirt around your legs. The park is beautiful in the spring, and even more so at night. The strategically placed light posts illuminate certain sections of the park and makes it appear like something out of a fairytale.

Ivan leads you to a bench, and the two of you sit down.

"(Y/n), there's something I want to ask you," he begins softly. "I was wondering if-"

"I have to leave," you interrupt. "I need to go back to my parents."

Ivan looks at you with confusion and surprise. "What?"


	26. Chapter 26

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Ivan's face shifts from surprise to confusion to hurt and back to confusion. "Why?"

"M-my mom is sick," you tell him quietly. "I don't want to leave, but my dad needs my help while my mom's in the hospital."

"Oh sunflower, I'm sorry." He hugs you tightly. "It's going to be okay."

You clutch his shirt tightly as the tears finally fall from your eyes. "I-Ivan I'm s-s-so scared," you stutter out through your tears.

"I know подсолнечник (sunflower), I know. It's okay. You don't need to cry." He does his best to comfort you, but you let all of your frustrations out.

"It's not fair!" you wail. "I-I worked so hard to get my d-degree, and I was g-gonna get a job doing something I l-love, but then life had to k-kick me in the shins." You sob uncontrollably for a few minutes. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"I don't know," Ivan tells you. "But you will get through this (y/n). I believe in you."

You turn your tear stained face toward his. "I can't do this Ivan. I don't know what to do. My plan was to work for Honda-san, but now I don't know what to do. I have to leave Ivan!"

"I know подсолнечник (sunflower). It'll be fine. I'm here for you."

"Now you are, but you won't be forever," you say sadly. "You know you can't come with me. You're going to start your company with the Baltics. You have to stay here."

"But (y/n)-"

"Please don't make this harder Ivan," you say softly. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you throw your future away for me." You stand up, but you don't face him. "I'm sorry."

You start to walk toward the fountain. You're not sure where you're going, but you know you need to get away. Suddenly, Ivan hugs you from behind to keep you from walking any further.

"Sunflower, please wait."

"Don't Ivan. Please."

"(Y/n), I love you. Please listen to me," he begs. His voice is desperate.

You untangle yourself from his arms and lead him toward the fountain. You sit on the ledge, and Ivan does the same. The angel watches over the two of you sound of running water is soothing, and you calm down a little.

"You can say whatever you want," you tell Ivan softly, "but I won't let you come with me."

"Da, okay," he says with a nod of his head. He pauses to think for a while. "Well, I know things look tough right now подсолнечник (sunflower), but if anyone can get through it, it's you. You're one of the strongest people I know. You're kind and caring and loving." He pauses again and looks your straight in the eye. "You're brave enough to face me on my worst day, and gentle enough to calm Natalya. Everyone love you (y/n). I'm very fortunate to have you in my life, and even more so that you feel the same way about me." He stands up with his back facing you and continues. "You're my light in the darkness. The only thing I have no regrets about. You keep me going when I can't go on, and sane when I can't hold on."

You hardly notice that tears had begun to streak down your face again. No one had ever said such kind things to you before. Ivan turns and faces you again. His eyes burn with an emotion you can't place. It's a mixture of love, desire, fear, and understanding.

"(Y/n)," he says lovingly. "I can't imagine loving anyone but you, sunflower. You've done more for me than anyone else in my life."

You're sobbing very hard now. How can you leave someone as wonderful as Ivan? You can't live without him.

"I know I'm not easy to love," Ivan continues. "I know I'm not easy to understand, and that I'm a danger to those around me. But you understand подсолнечник (sunflower). You are everything to me."

Ivan takes your hand and brings it to his lips. You wipe away the last of your tears. Ivan is making it harder to leave by the minute, but you had told him he can say whatever he wants. Then your heart almost stops when he gets down on one knee.

"(Y/n), I love you so very much. You're the only one in this world that has ever tried to love me the way you do. So I'm asking you here, in the spot I fell in love with you, if you will give me the honor of letting me be your knight?"

He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a small velvet box. Inside is a gorgeous diamond ring. Tears well up in your eyes again.

"Yes," you whisper to Ivan. "You can be my knight. Forever."

~•The End•~


	27. Epilogue

You stretch on the couch as you wake up from your nap. You must have fallen asleep while reading your book. You place a ribbon in the book to mark your spot and set it on a little table next to the couch. It accidentally nudges a picture frame, and it falls over. You pick it up and look at it closely. You smile when you remember when the picture was taken.

The picture is of Gilbert and Elizabeta on their wedding day. You stand next to Elizabeta, and Francis stands next to Gilbert. He had been the best man at the wedding. Gil and Elizabeta had been very understanding of your situation, and planned the wedding on a day you could attend. They kept telling you they owed you, and the least they could do was make sure you make it to the ceremony. You had cried like a baby along with many of the other women there.

You set the picture down fondly. It had been over a year since the picture had been taken. You turn to look at the the top shelf of the bookcase in your living room. It has several different pictures your friends have sent you over the year.

There's one from Alfred with him and a large group of kids from the school he councils at. Just as everyone thought, the modeling thing didn't work out. He actually did get a contract for a while, but he didn't enjoy it as much as he thought he would. You had been excited when you saw a picture of him in a magazine modeling jeans. He had sent it to you because he knew you'd get a kick out of it. Now he hangs out with kids at an elementary school and teaches them to solve problems and express themselves.

The next picture on the shelf is one of Feli and Romano in front of the Colosseum in Rome. Feli has his usual spacey grin on his face, and Romano is actually smiling. Kind of. Feli sends you a sorts of postcards from the places they visit. You have receives cards from Rome, Venice, Florence, Naples, and Pompeii. Feli is going to be coming home soon because he got a contract with a company to design their new corporate headquarters. You remember the excited phone call you had received from him when he found out.

There's a larger picture behind those two pictures of Arthur, Francis, and Antonio on stage during one of their concerts. They had gotten together and started a band just for the heck of it, and next thing you know, they're one of the biggest music sensations in the country. Arthur sings and plays a guitar that looks like a British flag. Francis plays the bass and is a back up singer. Antonio plays the drums and sings sometimes too. You were one of the first people they had performed for, and you thought they were great. Their fame only took off from there.

Your gaze moves to the smallest picture on the shelf. It's one of Lili and Vash at Lili's graduation. She had graduated a year after you and your friends had. You didn't get to make the ceremony, but Lili, being the thoughtful one, sent you this picture. You had laughed when you looked at it carefully because you can see Matthew in the background.

You look at another one of the larger pictures you have displayed. This one is of you, Ivan, and the Baltics standing in front of your café on the day it opened. You smile when you think about how it came into existence. Ivan had proposed to you that night of graduation, and you left for home a few days later. It wasn't easy to leave your fiancé, but you knew you had to. He surprised you a week later when he and the Baltics showed up at your door. They had a plan for a new business. The more they told you about it, the more excited you got. After that, almost every spare moment was put into making this idea a reality.

The plan was to open a café instead of a construction company. The building you rented was not far from your hometown, so you can do what you love and be near your parents. You would do the cooking, the Baltics would handle the paperwork, and Ivan would manage the business. You had loved the idea the minute you heard it. You wouldn't get to do a whole lot of cooking, but baking is something you also love doing, so you didn't mind. You bake fresh pastries, breads, and cookies every morning to stock the glass display case next to the register. Toris sometimes helps in the kitchen or at the register if he's not doing paperwork. Eduard also helps at the register. He's also in charge of the wireless in the café. Ravis helps with a lot of cleaning when he's there too. All three of them can agree that they enjoy this much more than they would've ever enjoyed construction.

You smile at all the memories before picking up the last, and largest, picture. It's a photo of you and Ivan on your wedding day. The two of you are standing in front of an arch covering in creeping vines and sunflowers. He has his arm around your waist, and you have one hand on his chest. The other is holding a your pretty bouquet, which Lili had caught. You and Ivan are both beaming happily at the camera. You remember how happy you were that day.

The wedding was planned for the end of the summer after Ivan proposed. Your mother had already recovered enough to be able to attend. The wedding ceremony was on the beach next to Ivan's beach house. It was close to sunset, and you could see fireflies beginning to light up here and there. Your guests admired the sun making the sky red and gold. You had invited all of your close friends, Ivan's sisters, and your parents. Natalya had followed you around while you were getting ready, and wouldn't let anyone other than Katyusha, Elizabeta, and Lili to come near you.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it was time to start. You can still remember how handsome Ivan had looked in his black tux. He says you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen when walking down the aisle. The whole wedding had a sunflower theme, so there were sunflower petals in the aisle, sunflowers tied to the benches, and a couple in your bouquet. It had been a truly magical night there on that beach.

You set the large picture down. The items on the next shelf catch your eye. You take a step to your right to look at them closely. Ivan's three matryoshka dolls stand in a row on the shelf. They're the same that they've always been, except Belarus doesn't look as creepy to you anymore. Standing next to those dolls is another group of matryoshka. The largest doll looks like Ivan, and the next smallest looks like you. Katyusha had gotten you this set of dolls for a wedding present, and you immediately loved it. It came with a third tiny doll, which had confused you at first. Now you understand. You had put the doll up earlier in the day in the hopes that Ivan would see it. It's a doll of a little baby wrapped in a blanket. You gently lay a hand on your stomach and smile.

Your thoughts are interrupted by Ivan coming through the door. He and the Baltics had to get paperwork for the café done all day. You had gotten the day off since the it's closed. You're surprised Ivan is home so early, but you only live a few blocks away from the café, so it's not too surprising.

"Hello подсолнечник (sunflower)," Ivan calls. He sees you standing by the bookcase. "What are you doing over there?"

"Just reminiscing," you tell him.

He walks over by you and wraps an arm around your waist. He looks at all of the pictures and the dolls. His eyes land on one particular matryoshka that wasn't there before.

"(Y/n)?"

"Yes? What is it?" you ask as you turn to him. You can barely contain your excitement.

"Why is there a third doll in our family?" he asks and points.

You break into a big smile. "Because we have three people in our family."

Ivan looks at you with wide eyes. "You mean you're-" He doesn't finish his sentence, but you nod anyway. "And we're-" You nod again. "How long?"

"I'm about a month in," you inform him. "You're going to be a daddy."

He hugs you tightly, and begins to laugh against your neck. "We're going to be parents!" he says excitedly. You laugh with him and nod some more. Ivan gets down on one knee and carefully places a hand on your stomach. There's no noticeable bump yet, but that'll come soon enough. "привет (hello) little one," he says. "Вам очень повезло иметь мать, как (y/n) (you are very lucky to have a mother like (y/n))."

You have been picking up a little Russian from Ivan in the year you've been married, but you have no idea what he said. "What are you telling our baby?"

"That he is very lucky to have you for a mother, sunflower," he says as he looks up.

"It could be a she," you tell him. "And why do it in Russian?"

"You have to start them when they're young," Ivan says. He wraps you in his strong arms again. "я тебя люблю (I love you)."

"Da," you say softly. "я тебя люблю слишком (I love you too)."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to everyone who made it to the end. We're finally here! :D It's been quite a long journey. I never imagined it would get this long XD I'll do my best to continue writing more, and I hope you check it out when it comes. Thank you all :3


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